We're just couple of animals
by Angevelinka
Summary: In secret laboratory two results of genetical experiment grow up. Will they be able to find themselves in the life they had come to live in? GaaNaru, NaruGaa, ShikaTema, possible KankuKiba and future mpreg.
1. Eins

_AN: That's the first RP world session we had with Panur – quite long one, and I find it rather pleasing if you don't mind the fact both characters are a bit silly (but not stupid). Enjoy!_

There was nothing interesting in Gaara's room. That, he could have lived with - there really hadn't been much in where he had spent most of his life, and in fact, there was more furniture here than there. The problem was that there was no Gaara in Gaara's room, and that made things very bad. He'd woken up today and spent most of the day looking around the place (no Gaara on sight), had lunch with Gaara's brother and sister (they gave him ramen which was very good, but still: no Gaara) and after bothering Shikamaru for long enough the boy had told him to go look for him in his room, so he had decided to do exactly that. It was easy to find, the place full of humans and Gaara smelling like him, but he hadn't been there either and so Kyuubi had decided to curl on his bed and wait for him to appear.

Gaara was content. Not really in a good everything-I-had-to-do-went-fine matter, but not in a that-could-do-because-nothing-else-could-do matter either. He was wandering around the corridors for the whole morning and managed to spot a guy who was nice enough to give him an old newspaper. It was three weeks old, but it didn't really matter since he had never really been taught how to read and toyed with every page painfully slowly. Today though, it seemed to be his lucky day, since it was covered in big letters and looked colorful and enjoyable to skip around the pictures themselves. He didn't feel particularly hungry since he had eaten yesterday and he could go on without proper meal for awhile, so he decided to just go back to his room and enjoy his piece of new treat. He loved to read about news from 'out there', wherever it really was. But when he was heading the door of his room, he felt that something was not right. The smell... the smell was different. Not exactly his. When he touched his door he already knew who it was. Naruto. The blond hyper guy. Not that he particularly cared, he didn't mind his presence after all - but he'd rather enjoy his newspaper in silence without the blonde talking his head off about everything. And it wasn't because he felt shy (gods, no!) because he could be seen as not very smart (heck no!) for being retarded on reading (surely no!). It was just that... well...

...ah, but it didn't matter anymore, did it? Naruto seemed to be rather immobile right now. Little circle of immobility in Gaara's personal bed. 'Joy' - he thought gravy - 'Now my bed will be full of his SMELL. Whole night in the presence of sour odor of the other's mush'. He really should have just tell him o n c e again that he wasn't particularly fond of such things. But since he didn't really mind, and well, Naruto looked so different than usual when he was not talking for awhile and he liked that side of his colleague too, he decided to not disturb him. Just sit in the closest chair and start reading. Something about hearts and couples. So he could tell about it to Naruto later and do a right impression on him. Right. He smiled at the idea. Yes. He liked impressing the blond.

Rustling sound.

Naruto scrunched his eyes and tried to pull the Gaara's nice blanket closer around him, covering his ears. It was nice and warm where he was and he didn't want to be interrupted by more  
paper rustling sound. That for some reason kept coming… there would be a few seconds of pause every now and then, and then he would starts dozing off and the RUSTLE SOUND would come again and disturb him. Making an annoyed snarling sound he straightened, glaring at the source of the noise. The source of noise had red hair, and as the only person he knew with red hair that was that red was Gaara, the snarl changed to a happy yip and then he was tackling the older boy down.

'Gaara!'

Gaara tipped over, nearly loosing balance and tripping them both with a chair, but he kept steady. He looked at the ball of sunshine that decided to tackle him suddenly and smiled a little, though this couldn't be visible to Naruto, since he had his head angled in a different direction. Yes, he indeed smelled nice. That kind of smell that kept him awake. That kind of smell that was homely and warm.

'Naruto' he said in acknowledgment, stroking the blond on the head and trying to get the newspaper in the proper shape, since it's been all crusted and crumpled now 'What are you doing in my room?'

The younger blond had his arms around the redhead, apparently not having minded or noticed the fact they were now sprawled on the floor, and nudged the other's hand to get him to pet him again.

'I was looking for you, but you weren't anywhere, so Shikamaru told me to look for you here!'

Gaara looked at the blond questioningly and let himself pet yellow hair some more. Naruto surely was in the good mood today.

'Nice to see you too.' he said, letting go of Naruto and laying his head back on the cold floor. Not the best position to enjoy the company, but he didn't mind that either. Such a tolerant mood for his usual moody self 'But what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in your room and train your social skills?'

Naruto sat up on, still straddling the other`s waist and smiled.

'I wanted to be with you. I just couldn`t find you anywhere else'

The blond looked down at the same place Gaara was, then back up, smiling brightly.

'Who told you you can get so touchy feely?' Gaara snarled, suddenly feeling very annoyed at the closure. It's not that he didn't like it. It was more that he actually did like it. In awkward kind of way. And Naruto was surely overdriving his patience. True, he let the blond boy close in past few days and broke his own rule about keeping people away from himself within the three meters pole range, but that was it. He could like the blond, okay. He could give him a pat on the head, sure. And talk over the newspaper. But that was it.

'Get off!' he scowled, though not as angrily as he would scowl at his brother, for example. Yes. The lighter kind of aggressiveness. 'Please.' he added after a long thought. Yes. 'Please' should do. Especially told straight into Naruto's face, since he was now sitting completely straight with Naruto on his lap.

Naruto flinched at the voice, and quickly scrambled off the older male, a small whimper sound coming from his throat as he stared at the redhead. The 'please' afterward did little to settle his nerves, the blond being extremely sensitive to other people being aggressive to him, especially someone like Gaara. He didn't know what he was doing wrong, but it always seemed like if he was doing something to make the other yell at him…

'I'm sorry…' he mumbled dejectedly from his current spot, pressing against the other's bed, some good three feet away from Gaara.

Gaara stood up and brushed off his pants, not looking in Naruto's way. Then he got the chair standing like it should, not feeling a little bit of guilty. Not a little... well, maybe just a little. Only a bit... not that big bit. But disturbing bit. He didn't like when Naruto stopped being all smiles and sunshine. Silence looked good on him only when he slept after all.

'Naruto.' he said sternly, coming closer to him and feeling now quite a big lump of guilt inside his stomach, when the other flinched at his steps nearer. He opened his mouth, but no words really came out. He didn't know blond for too long, and he wasn't really good in his social skills so he was void of things to say. But it really made him feel bad when he saw the blond sitting like that. So he opened his mouth and spoke up for the safest subject he thought would do 'I have a newspaper... want to read it with me?'

He remembered how the blond was eager for knowing a lot about the outside world long time ago and even if they hadn't brought that topic yet, it seemed good enough for Gaara. So he offered his, now crumpled newspaper to Naruto, hoping that he would stop doing his defensive stance.

Naruto stared at the other with distrust for a second or two, almost as if expecting another outburst, then straightened a little, looking at the crumbled piece of paper on the redhead's hands.

'What? From outside?' Naruto had been taught how to read. It was part of the project to see if he actually could be taught, considering he had been the only one created in a laboratory, the genetically changes they wanted to create having previously been directly applied to humans, while in his case his genetic makeup had been directly altered before he was even 'born'.

For years a group of researchers had left him reading material, but it had always been boring, nothing inside told him stuff from outside, except in stories, and even he knew that things there weren't always real. But he knew what a newspaper was, he'd just never actually seen or touched one. Carefully he scooted closer to the redhead.

'Yes, from outside.' Gaara said and opened it on the random page and showing pictures to yellow head. He hadn't gotten far with his reading, but he was lucky enough to open it just in the place where there was a photo of a big mass of water, sun getting down and pair of people walking hand in hand along the seashore 'See?'  
He shifted a little, wanting to just grab the blond and get him close and far enough at the same time. Naruto was such a strange creature. Sometimes he would cover in fear, sometimes he would just stand so close he would forget that personal space existed. He didn't get it. When he wanted, he just took anything, but never bothered with other people much. They weren't exactly nice to him and he was not nice to the either and that worked somehow.

But not with the blond. He blinked, remembering that it was always like that and that he never really got used to it. He felt his presence like something completely natural, and yet the blond had begun waking in him... urges... needs... he didn't really recognize and thus, was not sure what to do with them. And that smell. Some days it was just...

...ah, yes, exactly that. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Yes. Intoxicating.  
But that didn't matter now, did it. He was in worse trouble now. He wanted to read newspaper with him, but it didn't seem really appealing to him since it was so hard to squint the letters from it. He, out of a habit, bitten on his finger and looked at the paper like if it had hurt him deeply. This was going to turn out pretty shameful.

'Hmm?' The blue eyes quickly scanned the word on the advertisement.

'Miami…' he said thoughtfully.

'Looks pretty. Is it far away from here?' he inched closer, and when that proved still useless for him to get comfortable enough , he ducked under one of the redheads arms and moved so he was occupying the empty space between the other's legs, bringing the newspaper down so he could look at it. '…seems you have to go there in a boat,' he muttered, leaning back on the older boy's chest.

'You're hopeless.' he murmured, seeing how the blond managed to attack his personal space yet again. When he saw blue eyes looking back at him with question he turned his head to the newspaper avoiding them, trying to read out the blurry lines. 'Flo-rida...' he read out loud, squinting and getting the newspaper closer, so he could see it better and accidentally pressing Naruto even closer to his chest.

Warmth of the body didn't help much. He tried propping his head on the others shoulder and then on top of his head, but that really didn't do a thing.

'It's very far' he said after some silence, scanning the words like 'America' and 'Atlantic Ocean'. He shifted, trying to read out some more. 'On-ly a few... days with our... ship...'

He scowled and brushed his finger over the sentence he wanted to read. Sadly, it had drop of blood from his previous bite, so it smudged over the paper and made it less readable than before .

'Oh, damn it... but I bet it's not as nice as it looks like on the picture.'

Naruto didn't seem to mind the other shifting against him at all, or even notice the obvious difficulty Gaara had to read the words. He really didn't mind being this close to Gaara... He actually liked it, especially when he wasn't being yelled at. The bright red called his attention, and he watched in fascination as the paper quickly absorbed and extended the stain. Without thinking, he reached for the other's hand, bringing his knees up so the paper wouldn't fall now that only one of Gaara's hand was occupied by it.

'Why do you say that?' he asked distractedly, leaning and licking the dribbling blood, then propping the other's fingers into his mouth to stop the bleeding.

'Because it's an advertisement, just look at this pimped out coup-...' He stopped, looking at Naruto with wide eyes. Was he... licking his fingers? His bloody fingers? But it did feel so nice and warm inside his mouth. Ad somewhat slippery. Funny. Out of curiosity he moved his digits to touch the insides of Naruto's mouth and felt something wiggly - probably Naruto's tongue. Felt good. Very good.

Actually, felt absolutely right. So he shifted yet again, this time calmly lying his head in Naruto's shoulder and concentrating whole-heartedly on the physical warmth and muttered quietly 'couple' ending the sentence, straight into Naruto's ear.

'Sometimes I think that love is an absolute idiocy.' he murmured in the same position, looking at the picture. Come to think of it, he felt now more peaceful.

It was hard, cleaning the blood when Gaara kept moving his finger, and he kept having to chase it, but the redhead finally seemed to settle. It was nicer now, Gaara kind of slumped a warm, solid weight against him. He kept looking at the picture, not seeing what was so bad about this couple, but mostly not understanding what `pimped out` meant, his lack of knowledge of slang making it very hard to decipher.

'Hmmm?' he finally removed the other's fingers from his mouth, licking his own lips as he turned to stare at him. 'Why?'

'Because it's limited.' Gaara whispered looking at Naruto's innocent eyes staring at him and then observing how pink tongue danced on pink lips. 'Is there any sense to have a blind bliss on this world when only normal people can have it?' he said, pointing at the couple on the picture.

When the gaze still held a question, he opened his mouth again: 'We are not allowed to love. We are not.' he moved his clean finger to his mouth to bite it again, but stopped himself when he tasted it and decided to slide his hand down by Naruto's side instead.

'I had a family once. They loved me, or so they say now. But I was taken away from them. I am not supposed to love. I am different. And so are you. We both are. Love is not for us. It's idiotic.' he said, ending his little talk, looking at the picture with dislike. It made sense to him. Perfect sense.

Naruto opened his mouth to protest when the older boy tried to bite himself again, but then he lowered his hand and ran it down his side, making the blonde shiver lightly at the ticklish feeling.

'Temari-chan and Kankuro really do love you, Gaara!' he protested. Gaara obviously didn't know what he was saying. He had a family and they had spent YEARS looking for him, that meant they loved him, for sure! Who else would do something like that? Naruto would kill to have a family of his own, even if they weren't normal, like him. 'And why shouldn't you be able to love anyone? No one's stopping you from doing it!'

'They say they do.' he answered, shrugging slightly. He didn't know those people, seriously. Big one, Kankuro, just seemed to be the loose guy who got scared a little too easily when he got a bad mood. The girl on the other hand, looked like if she was torn between scolding him for whatever he did in those bad moods and giving him an understanding nod. They didn't remind him those two he left as a kid when they took him out to experimentations.

'And why do you think you are allowed to love only because you're not stopped from doing it? I'm a laboratory freak, a monster. And not a good one. Not even a complete one like you. Who would love a monster? Nobody will love me. Nobody will love you. Nobody will love us. _Nobody._' he said, putting an emphasis on the last word. 'But it's better that way. No stupid running on the beach and looking like idiots.'

Naruto flinched at being called a monster, but Gaara continued before he could get a word to say he wasn't one, perfect or not. He wasn't a monster! He could make friends and make people care for him and he could make people love him if he tried to! If no one had loved him so far it was because he hadn't had the chance, but now he was building relationships and getting to know new people and he was allowed to go around as much a she pleased—he could be loved!

'If no one is stopping you from loving anyone, then what makes you think you aren't allowed to do it?' He turned around, staring at the other sternly. 'You are lucky people try to love you, you are so lucky people loved you enough to look for you all this time, but if you don't love them it's because you don't want to, not because you can't!'

Gaara looked back into blue eyes. Oh, there he went again. Once behaved like a cuddly cat, now here he goes with smart talking. He wasn't right, of course (well, maybe he got some little point...), but he looked like if he knew the absolute truth. But blueness... blueness of those eyes, the fierce pinpointing... that was distracting.

'You...' he said, furrowing his nonexistent eyebrows. 'Stop doing that... being like that. And your mouth...' he said and then, just to add to the factor, he covered Naruto's mouth with his hand. 'They talk too much. Stop.' And then the redhead closed his eyes and nuzzled slowly Naruto's neck with his nose, just barely touching the lowest part of the ear. Oh, the smell. Dazzling.

'Stop making sense.' Because this seriously was getting out of his hand, his mind and everything else and was just so full of normalcy that he didn't know if he was only in or just out of his mind anymore.

Naruto had no intention of shutting up, especially when Gaara was openly running away from an argument he was so obviously winning, and he was seriously considering biting the other's hands to force him to let go of his mouth, but luckily before he could, Gaara did something that distracted him.  
Gaara usually just let him touch him, and that had been just recently. He never touched him back other than to pat his head sometimes… and the feeling of the other pressing against his skin made make an unsettled sound in the back of his throat, not knowing how to react. Hesitantly, he pressed his cheek against the side of the other's head and nuzzled it, one hand reaching to press to the redhead's chest.

Who knew. Who knew that Naruto could MEWL. Or be even more cuddly than he already was. Or somewhat clingy. Gaara opened his eyes just a little bit, only to look at nothing in particular, being lost in his own world of sensations. The smell was fine. He liked it. The smell... But the taste? Now that was ridiculous. Why would he want to taste someone? And yet, he wanted to. Rather badly.

'Only a little taste.' he told to himself as he closed his eyes, opened his mouth and slowly, delicately, almost in ghostly manner licked Naruto's skin just below his ear.

'You are. Not. Helping' he murmured, commenting on rather clingy behavior of blond. He closed his mouth, trying to recognize the new sensation. It didn't taste like anything in particular. Just... skin-like. Which reminded him...

...that he really didn't eat anything today.

'I'm hungry' he murmured into blond's neck, staying in the same position for a second or two, and then completely throwing him off and standing up. 'I'm going to eat.'

And with those words he went out, leaving his blue-eyed cuddliness in the middle of his own room.


	2. Deux

The day was rather chilly. Gaara shivered at the low temperature. It was rather normal underground - kept steady, but when it grew colder, it usually bothered everyone longer. With a sigh, he wandered into the kitchen and stopped at the sight of his brother. Kankuro was sitting at the table and reading a...

'Hello.' said Kankuro, turning the book sideways, so the cover couldn't be visible. Gaara looked at him without bigger interest and started rummaging through their big refrigerator 'Gaara?'

'What.' he answered, sniffing the yoghurt. No, it was too old for his tastes. Normal humans could have it.

'Just... don't ignore me, okay?' was Kankuro's plea. Gaara picked up some onion. No, he wanted something sweet today.

'Why would I want to interact with you?' he said, annoyed, rummaging even deeper in the refrigerator.

'Because... oh, forget about it.' was Kankuro's answer, and he left, slamming the door beside him 'I hate kids... ' could be heard as he stomped beside the doors. Gaara looked at the object left on the table. Not that he was interested, but he was rather bored, and didn't have his newspaper with him, so borrowing it seemed like a good idea. Not that he needed to ask anyway. So he picked sour blue jelly and slowly walked to the darkened room with computers.

They always had a good temperature and he just needed to warm up. So he got on top of the one which ran for quite some time, lied on his back and started wandering through the book, while eating.

'Naked lady, naked lady, one more naked lady.' he counted, trying to find anything interesting. But since it was just full of naked ladies, he decided to stick with it. Body was also something that could entertain him.

With cold, Naruto wasn't as much a blond ball of hyperactivity as normal. Not that he wasn't more than enough to tire almost everyone, but he needed to build up some energy and shake the sluggish feeling off to achieve that, and it seemed to take longer and longer with the approaching winter. Technically, they shouldn't be feeling it with the air conditioner, but the blond just was more sensitive to it. Naruto spent more time in his room sleeping, and it seemed to take him forever to work enough courage to leave his warm cocoon of blankets. It had taken three tries today, and he was sluggishly making his way out of the kitchen and apparently dedicating himself to finding his red-haired friend. He didn't know why Gaara liked being alone so much. It was horribly boring. And to top that most of the people were on the upstairs-building, making some reports to the blind people. The Hyuuga clan weren't really blind, but they looked like if they were, and there were lots of them, only he'd never talked to anyone but Hinata-chan and Neji. And other than them, they liked to talk like if he wasn't even in the room, so calling them 'blind people' seemed perfectly fitting, and only because 'blind-dead-and-rude-people' was too long for a name. He found Kankuro sulking in the wing the siblings shared for a living, not that the older boy knew where Gaara had gone, but he did ruffle his hair, which was always nice. Either way, Gaara had been there recently, so finding his track wasn't hard at all, and soon Naruto found himself stepping into a faintly whirring room. The sound was annoying, but not terribly so. Mostly, the room was warm, because the computers were blowing the warm air all over the place. It also made Gaara's track harder to find, and he had to rely on actually looking around the large room until he spotted the redhead perched on top of one of the larger machines.

'Gaara,' he called, his voice bordering on a whine as he quickly jumped on the machine and nudged the older boy so he could get some room next to him.

'Hmmm...' Gaara looked around to find a mess of blond hair trying to push him into one side, so he could get near. Without a prime thought he rolled over, giving more space to the yellow head. The warmth of new body next to him was anything but bad, so he decided that he won't say anything about too little space for them to have a civil friendly lay over.

'Naruto' he said, acknowledging the other's presence and stroked yellow hair. Ball of sunshine seemed to be rather sleepy today so he indeed was getting more peace, just as he liked it. The smell was here too, and the faded memory of skin-taste also, but he brushed it aside as something he didn't dare to think about and smothered his bud tastes with sour jelly. Lady in his book was wearing nothing but a pair of gloves. What a terrible comparison on a chilly day. 'It's cold today' he said absent mindedly, still stroking blond on the head. The blond made a quite contented sound at the fact Gaara wasn't dumping him in the floor or pushing him away and snuggled as close as he could to the other's chest, burying his head on the soft material of Gaara's shirt. It was warm and smelt like Gaara and had Gaara inside of it, so as far as Naruto cared, it was the greatest shirt on Earth. He sleepily nudged the other's hand to get him to keep stroking, his eyes closed in that curious fox-like expression.

'I don't like cold. I get all tired-like.'

'Then maybe I should just drop you into the floor.' Gaara said, looking wickedly on top of Naruto's head 'Because you may warm up in any minute and start bouncing around, and that's very unhealthy for computers.' But he kept on stroking lazily what was under his hand, not really meaning what he said. The warmth of the body was making him feel better so he was far from shunning it away. Though the smell was much stronger now. And the way Naruto cuddled to him, with such... trust that rarely anyone had shown to him was making his heart beat a little faster. And that was beginning to disturb him. In a hot, nice kind of way. He brushed accidentally Naruto's jaw. Then brushed it again, not so accidentally, running his finger along pinkish lips.

'Maybe I should' he said, this time reconsidering the idea.

'I'll be nice.' the blond whined, trying to curl closer. Gaara was really nice and warm and he really, really didn't want to move an inch from where he was. Nicer than bed, even. 'I'll stay still, promise.'

The younger boy really was completely relaxed against the other. Gaara might be grumpy and liked to be mean for absolutely no reason, and he liked to push him away at the oddest times, but he wouldn't hurt him. Naruto was completely and absolutely sure of that, so he was pretty much as his most defenseless with the redhead. His shoulders stiffened lightly as the other's hand ran down his skin, making him shiver and nuzzle the older boy's hand to keep him going.

'If you say so.' Gaara still wasn't sure if not just push the blond away. But he was too lazy to do anything about it now. He ate another spoon of his blue jelly, slowly tasting lemony tint and closing his eyes. He almost couldn't feel what he was eating. Naruto's smell was so strong that he was almost eating it. One or two patting of pinkish lips, which didn't open like he suspected them to, he held Naruto's jaw and bend himself to touch with his nose the mesh of hair that was just in front of him. Ah, yes. That was hard to resist, the sniffing. So he sniffed. Once. Twice. Nice. Very nice. He decided to not rebel against the smell anymore and just leave Naruto. But...

...it was kind of strange that he was feeling that way. He didn't react like that to anyone else after all. So he lied on his back again and looked at the ceiling, furrowing his nonexistent brows.

'Naruto' he murmured 'Do I smell nice?'

The nuzzling got a contented hum out of the blond, and he nuzzled against the other in response, not minding cuddling to Gaara at all, only the redhead pulled away, prompting Naruto to inch even closer. The other's question got a silly, happy kind of almost-laugh noise of the younger boy's throat, as he nuzzled even closer, laying his head on the other's chest with a hand draped across the other's stomach.

'Yeees~ Gaara smells the nicest.'

So he wasn't imagining things. It must've been the monster thing. They smelt different from other people. Maybe it was a side effect of some experiment? But he didn't mind it, really. He liked it.

'Rrreally?' he said, almost purring at the gesture of Naruto - it was so nice. Okay, maybe a little too nice. Hand on his stomach was unnerving him, so he just grabbed it and entwined their fingers together, getting it close to his face. The blond, unlike him, had rather long claws and he felt fascinated by the way they shone in the dimmed light of the room.

'You smell nice too.' he said, and quickly running his tongue along one of the fingers. 'And taste...' Then he stopped and grimaced. Licking a sharp claw wasn't the best idea. Now, instead of his food and Naruto's hands he could feel tangy droplets of bloods mixing with his saliva. What was with him wanting to taste Naruto after all? 'Stop acting stupid.' he said to himself and grabbed blue jelly, trying to overrun the taste of bloody droplets. But since his movement were rather jerky and careless, his second spoon got a bad hold, and half of it landed straight on Naruto's cheek. He didn't think twice. He licked it clean. Carefully.

Gaara sometimes got restless for no reason, so Naruto didn't think much when the other started touching him oddly and squirming against him, but he did jerk awake when he smelt the blood, and stared in open alarm as Gaara made a face at the taste. Before he could think of how to apologize, Gaara was trying to do something weird with his dessert, which landed a lot of sticky cold stuff on his cheek, an offended yip escaping him at the unpleasant sensation. Then Gaara licked it off his cheek, which for some reason he found terribly funny and he giggled at the feeling, even if he pressed closer and moved a bit so he was more splayed on top of the other than against his side.

Gaara looked at the giggling blond.

'You said you'll stay still.' he said, feeling how the other got heavier on him 'Shut up.' And because maneuvering his hands in a position he was in was rather hard, he decided to lick those pink lips shut. It wasn't bad. Tasted nicely. Very warm.

'I am trying to read.' he murmured, laying on his back again and looking inside Kankuro's book once again. But it really wasn't that interesting. And Naruto was rather heavy in this position.

'Why are you laying on me?' he asked thoughtfully, wondering how could he change the situation for his upper hand. Then he just grabbed the blonde and rolled them over, so no he was the one whose weight was crushing the other one. 'I like that better'. Only he really didn't, because now Naruto's hair was in the way of looking at the book and he didn't touch the warm surface of the computer. He slumped against the body, wondering once again how to move everything around. And because no solution was coming to his mind, he bit on his finger out of a habit once again.

'I am still!' Naruto giggled again when Gaara licked him, even if he tasted weird because of the dessert thing and the blood. It was really nice, what he was doing, and he just clung more to the redhead.

'You are comfy.' he sighed, one hand making a fistful of the other's shirt, and then Gaara flipped him around and he was under him… a bit unsettling, he wasn't sure he wanted to be under Gaara… Only now his back was to the warm computer whirr and Gaara's much more heated body. That was nice, he knew. He decided to test it a bit more.

'Gaara…' he pouted as he saw the other bite his finger, licking the other's lip and then placing the digit into his mouth to lick the blood clean. 'Don't hurt yourself. It's a bad thing.'

Gaara scowled.

'My finger.' he said, taking out his fingers from Naruto's mouth and placing it inside his own, biting it again 'And my teeth'. And just to get his point across, he decided to block Naruto's mouth from any arguments like before. He clamped his other hand over Naruto's lips and let himself think in peace. Okay, maybe peace was too big word for this situation... because surely, Naruto's lick stung on his lips. And that body heat all around him... He felt a little bit... too warm. Here. And there. And even down there.

'Why are you so touchy feely?' he asked around his fingers no one in particular, since Naruto still had his mouth covered.

In response the blond licked his fingers.

Gaara in an instant took away his hand and glared at Naruto with warning in his eyes.

'Don't do that.' he said, and turned his head away.

'Then don't do that!' squealed the Kyuubi.

'That's MY hand' he said 'I'll do with it whatever I want. Let it go.' And in-between, he just got and stuck fingers from the other palm in his mouth. This situation was stressing him. He had to bite something.

Naruto stared at the other with quickly watering eyes, his other hand reaching up to tug at the other pleadingly.

'Gaara, stop, I don`t like it when you hurt yourself...'

Great. Now the ball of sunshine was starting to cry. He really didn't like that. For a moment he stopped, feeling helpless in this situation, wanting it to go away, but decided against it. He felt like if the blonde was forcing it on him for no apparent reason. And he didn't like being forced against his logic. 'I won't' he said, and furrowed his eyebrows 'Why the heck do you care? And stop doing that face.' Because really, he didn't want him to cry. So he did the usual. He commanded. 'Stop.'

'I don`t like it when you hurt yourself!' The blond said in a high, watery voice as tears predictably started falling from the dark lashes, the command doing nothing to stop it. 'Why do you do it? I- That`s your blood, Gaara, why are you hurting yourself?'

'I don't care about the blood.' he answered with an uncaring voice and looked at blond. Who was crying. Now that was getting ugly. 'Stop crying' he repeated 'I said: stop.' But since it didn't really work, Gaara looked helplessly at Naruto, not really knowing what to do. 'Stop crying.'

He decided to go by instinct. Drying his fingers on the piece of cloth he had on himself, he started wiping tears from the blond's eyes, like if it would help clear the figure he was seeing out of the water.

'I won't bite myself. Stop.' he added with a hushed tone, licking one of the tears. 'Please...'

The younger boy kept crying as the other tried to order him around, the only thing they managed making the tears fall faster. It wasn't until the redhead stopped biting himself and started touching him instead that there was any noticeable changes. The blond whimpered and wrapped his arms around the redhead's neck, nuzzling against his neck, still emitting that low pitched whine in the back of his throat.

The situation was getting more than stressing. At the first move he just collected Naruto in his arms and decided to hold him tightly. He added stroking to his hair, like he usually did and tried to lick his face clean. But then second thought came. And third. He nervously twitched his fingers, wanting to bite on something, since Naruto's cry had him so touched, but he couldn't since it was what made blond crying on the first place. He grimaced, still massaging younger boy's scalp and tried chewing on his bright hair. Not really helpful. He grimaced again.

'Give me your fingers' he said, feeling restrained.

The younger boy hardly protested against being gathered in the other's arms- if anything, he latched to the other's chest and clung to the redhead, trying to nudge the other's neck every few moments or so, even if the sniffling and whimpering was coming to a stop.

'Hmmm?' he lifted his hand, the fingers lightly curved inwards as he usually did so people wouldn't get hurt on the elongated nails.

Gaara looked at them and slowly put one of them into his mouth. He held onto it, not really knowing if to clamp his mouth on it or not. It didn't really feel as good as his own fingers, to which he was already used, so he decided to let go. But the taste still lingered in his mouth.

'You're such a crybaby.' he said quietly, looking at the clingy figure 'Did you have green eyes? I bet you did. Crying must've cleared them out of color.'

He was being rude. But he wanted to be rude. He didn't know how to react otherwise. Because really, what to do when there's someone who GLUES himself on you over a broken, bleeding nail? He had never really accomplished something like that. His instincts did him a favor and let him baby this big baby, but when his mind came around, he decided that he didn't want to do that. Even if it felt right, because the blonde stopped crying and that was all he wanted at one point.

'Why do you act like you care.' he said, then he growled angrily 'You're making me so confused!'

And he pushed the blond out of his chest so he could see all the mess that was made there. Jesus. His shirt was all wet. And smelly. He started tugging on it, removing it. He would be better without it.

'My eyes were always blue.' the blond protested, pouting slightly at the older boy. There, Gaara was mad again. He didn't know why, because no one but Gaara himself seemed to understand his mood swings, but he was mad all right, and trying to push him away again. 'Of course I care if you hurt yourself, I don't want to see you getting hurt!'

He wiped his eyes with the long sleeves of his shirt, still staring at the redhead with wide, teary eyes

'Wouldn't you care if I were bleeding?'

Gaara stopped in the middle of the removal of his own shirt and looked at Naruto. The blond... bleeding?... He would probably cry more. And be miserable... He removed the shirt. He wouldn't want that. He looked at the blond.

'You're not bleeding.' he said sternly and lied down on his back, feeling the hum of the computer. He didn't have to admit everything he thought after all.

There was a long bout of silence. Then Naruto`s face was again in his field of vision, his expression even more miserable than before.

'So you wouldn`t care?'

Gaara sighed. And then he grabbed Naruto and tackled him down, rolling them over, so he could hold onto the blond tightly and nuzzle his hair, feeling, tasting his drug-like scent. That hurt expression made his heart clench. But he was far from admitting that.

'No, I wouldn't.' he murmured 'I can't care and chase the one who did it in the same time.'

Naruto whined again at the other`s response, and he tried to pull away from the heavier weight pinning him down, not wanting Gaara to touch him if he didn`t care.

'What are you doing? Stop squirming.' The redhead asked, seeing that Naruto got rather livid. His movements tickled his naked chest, and he just wanted to lay down in peace.

'You don`t care for me!' the blond- protested, still trying to move away. 'I care for you so much and you don`t. You must hate me, Gaara, you are so mean to me!'

Gaara froze. Now that was something completely new. And stung. It did.

'I don't hate you.' he said, and then he let himself mimic his confusion on his face. He felt a strong urge to protest, but it felt a bit hysteric to just go out and shout 'I like you'. So he tightened his hold onto Naruto and just repeated himself 'I don't hate you'.

Surely, blond would understand? He should. He hated everyone after all.

'I do...' - care, he wanted to say, but that wasn't right too. He liked being alone. He didn't care for anybody. He wouldn't like bleeding Naruto, but that was stretching the point. And he didn't want him to go away. The dimmed light and sweet hum of the computer has made him feel sleazy and lazy. And blond was so cuddly, when he didn't have his shirt on. He felt even more warm. Almost like a memory of his long forgotten teddy bear right in the morning, when it gave back the heat of his body he emitted for the whole night.

'Why are you so mean to me, then?' the blond cried out, finally stopping his squirming and just lying still on the other's grip, not trying to move away, but not doing anything to glue himself to the other again. 'You are always chasing me away. You are nice to e and then you push me and when I ask you not to hurt yourself you get angry at me for caring!'

He turned away, rising a hand to wipe at his eyes as he looked to the side.

'Because...' Gaara looked at the blond, then at Kankuro's book, which lied forgotten, then at the dark wall beside them, searching for words 'Because you're too friendly. I can't handle you.'

He really couldn't. He wasn't used to being 'treated nice'. He sniffed, once, twice. Then, feeling that his neck didn't want to support his head much more, he decided to lay down his head, cheek-by-cheek, on Naruto.

'And you smell too good.'

That earned him another sniffle.

'You smell good too, but that makes me be closer to you, not away!' More sniffling, this time with tears. 'I`m sorry I bother you. I don`t want to be close to you if you don`t like me.' A small struggle from the blond. 'Let me go, I won`t touch you anymore.'

Oh no. He didn't want that. He so completely, absolutely didn't want that. Something in the back of his mind started to tell him that actually he strived for this all along, but he shushed it in one moment.

'No.' he said, feeling how this time the protectiveness crept slowly onto his back. He made this ball of sunshine cry too much. He felt need to protect him from the bad mood, though he alone was the source of it. He bowed down, licking another tear and trying to stroke his hair again. 'You're strange for wanting to be with me. I never said I don't like you. I...'

...no, saying that he did was still a little too much for him.

'...stop crying.' Big baby. What did big babies needed to get themselves calmed? He remembered in one newspaper a gentle rocking and kissing on the forehead. So he tried that. Maybe not rocking, but kissing on the forehead. And the cheek. Oh, would you stop! It was so painful to look at this hurt expression. He kissed the eyelid. '...stop crying!'

This time it came dangerously close to whine. He didn't whine. He was one of the stronger kind. But he felt so helpless at this situation. He never had to calm anybody down. He didn't care enough.

'If you don't stop crying, I'm going to cry with you.' And he was sure he would. That was a perfect threat for him to get more food when he was in laboratory as a small kid. And when Gaara threatened - he always made sure it was done properly and turned into life just as it was supposed to be.

Naruto continued trying to struggle away, his movements becoming jerkier as the redhead didn't seem to want to let go.

'I'm not strange! If I like you its normal to want to be with you, isn't it?' If anything, Gaara was pulling him closer, licking and kissing him as the younger boy lost some of the strength he was using to bite back, actually wanting to be comforted by the older male. 'I don't wanna stop crying… I'm sad!'

'Don't be' said Gaara and continued on kissing the blond, since it seemed to calm him down, at least a bit 'I don't like when you're sad.'

But Naruto was oh so stubborn. He didn't know what else to do. Feeling of helplessness was starting to overcome him, and he was left with a void head, without any ideas. Indecisiveness started to tick him off, but he didn't know if it was anger or sadness. He kissed blondes jaw, trying to work around his face, but since their position would make Naruto get away if he lowered himself, he got back to cheeks and eyes.

It didn't really work. His throat started feel tight. And not because he threatened he would actually cry. He felt lost.

'I don't understand why do you like me.' he whispered, closing his eyes and giving another lick to those salty trails, feeling his cheeks become hot and sourness of the painful gag starting to twist his throat 'You said I'm mean to you, and now you say you like me.' And that was confusing. He didn't like confusion. Confusion made him angry, because it was unsolvable. And Naruto was so...

...talking stupid things. Disorienting him.

'Stop crying!' he said, this time whining but adding a threatening growl just in the far, far depth to it. Just a small, little threat. That was because he liked being alone. No confusion.

The younger boy whined lowly in the back of his throat, finally giving up and hesitantly reaching up to wrap his arms around the other's torso, fingers digging carefully on the smooth, white skin as not to draw blood, even as the other strained his body up to get as much of himself in contact with the other as he could.

'Because… because you are very nice when you aren't being mean.' He nuzzled harder against the redhead, trying to get to that really nice spot on his neck, then started licking it. 'You are so nice then, Gaara…'

Now that was something new. Blonde has never really tried to lick other parts of his body than his bloody fingers. Gaara closed his eyes, feeling to the sensation, not specifying yet, if it's annoying him or not. It was absolutely new, and he really didn't like anyone touching his most vulnerable parts of his body, but Naruto was doing it in such a gentle, ticklish way. He gave a low rumble, voicing his content and discontent at the same time and he mildly stroked blonde, as if he wanted to let him stay, and yet, he pushed him gently, like if he wanted him to go away. Hmm...

...no...

He didn't really like that... his neck was too vulnerable, Naruto could bite his throat... could tear his life out of him... he didn't... he didn't like that!

'Go away!' he howled, tearing blond out of his juncture point and pushing him off the computer's top onto the floor. 'I'm not nice!' he hissed 'Don't come near me! My computer! Find another place to stay!' And he turned his back to Naruto to not see his face, deciding to stay deaf to any whine he would hear. Stupid touchy-feely baby. Who said anything about touching back? Oh, he hated people. Every damn one of them. Even if they smelt nice. Scratch the differences. They all were the same after all. Always sneaking up on him and wanting to take control over him when he had one. Hisssss.

Naruto let out a high pitched yip and twisted around, managing to land on all fours and stared at the redhead's with wide, incredulous eyes… that very soon were overflowing with tears.

'I hate you!' the younger boy yelled, quickly scrambling up and bolting for the door, letting the door slam shut and blindly running, not caring for any particular destination, as long as it was away from Gaara. It didn't matter if Gaara could be nice and make him feel so bubbly and happy, Gaara could also hurt him, much, much worse than the needles and little knives had done.


	3. Tres

Naruto was just normal enough to hate that hurt, and to hate getting hurt out of his own stupidity. Gaara didn't want him. He said so himself, he didn't care for him and he didn't like him, so it would probably make Gaara very, very happy if he stayed away. He wasn't going to get anywhere near Gaara ever again.

Ahhh. Peace. He had it. Wow. After so many days, he finally had it. His pestering siblings didn't really count, since he could just shun them with a growl or ignore the whole tirade his, usually last to back off, sister gave. No glue-like blond, no blabbering and the druggy smell that made his senses sharpen to the boy and dull to everything else. He missed the last one a bit, since his own smell didn't really feel like anything good, but he could live with that. He lived in ugly smelling laboratory cages for almost whole life. He was fine.

Or so he thought he was. At first he didn't bother when Naruto just turned his back on him and scattered away whenever he got closer to him. It mean more peace, more silence. It meant no distraction. No need to search for his skyblue eyes and no need to ruffle sunkissed mess. Life was good. It was. Really.

Like... very seriously, surely, so much good. So silent and... yeah, silent... After three days he noticed that rustling of newspaper is kind of boring when you just... hear it. Shwoo, and nothing else. He tried ripping it (rrrrip) but it wasn't really entertaining either. Something was amiss... He kicked it into the back of his mind, as he usually did with anything he didn't feel like playing with and went on. Five days after the accident he became itchy. Silence was boring. He read the newspaper. He eat. He slept. or rather, couldn't sleep, because whenever the glittery ball of sunshine walked past his door he woke up, listening to the sound of his chirpish voice.

It really was chirpy. Or maybe not. Birds didn't sound like that. He liked them. But the nonstop yip was more... pretty. Ahh, stupid thoughts... he was having stupid thoughts after five days. Three days later his itch was becoming too itchy. He was missing the blabber. Missing the touch. Missing the heat. An unscratchable itch. He started biting his fingers again. Then he bit his hand, when his fingers were too painful to touch. Kankuro and Temari tried to bandage them, but each time he just tore the white plasters off, so it was pointless. When it was fourteenth day...

Oh, he had enough, all right. He started searching for the blond. He just wanted to cuddle up like to his own teddy, which gave him warmth, safety and a ghostly feeling of mother he had to have in early childhood. Though maybe this time it was somewhat more like fear. He feared that he left something unprotected. He wanted check if it was all right. Make himself all right by its all rightness. But it was nowhere to be seen.

He asked Temari about him. He asked Kankuro about him. He asked even Shikamaru and annoyed the hell of Neji Hyuuga, who didn't have time for him, but he didn't care. Nobody really knew where was Naruto. And he didn't know too. He never really knew where to begin with searching. It was the blond who always found him first. After six hours of pointless searching in the strangest places, he just sat on the table of the dining room and gave a very loud, needy howl. It wasn't an itch on Gaara anymore. It was Gaara on itch. He howled again, scaring the hell of Hyuuga heiress. He didn't care.

Hinata left immediately - everyone knew Gaara could turn violent with very little provocation. The redhead was left alone for a while, and it wasn't until some good ten minutes later that his sister ran in, her breath coming in short gasps of air, her face flushes from the obvious run.

'Gaara? Gaara, what happened?'

He looked at her from the dining table and then he looked around.

'Nothing. Not really anything.' he said, jiggling his toes and looking at the floor. When Temari didn't budge, he bit his lower lip and grimaced. 'I can't find Naruto. But you don't know where he is. You can't help me. Useless famil-' Then he stopped and looked at her, dead track. Then furrowed his brows and slowly, very carefully, flared his nostrils, inhaling the scent. Naruto's scent. On Temari.

'What. Is. This' he spat angrily, and hopped from the table just an inch from his sister, doing a quick nervous sniffle all around her. He was there. On her hands. On her lap. On her... face!

'What?' he growled 'You said... you have told me that...'

Humans. How he hated humans. His family was nothing but a burden, and now it was becoming a destination of his frustration. A very full of lies destination. They were supposed to love him and not hurt him, right? They were supposed to be on his side, right? His weren't.

Another mistake in his life. His whole life was so full of mistakes. His parents, who never kept him in the family. His uncle, who promised him nice life and haven't even flinched when they took him away. And now this.

'Where is he.' he asked, feeling disturbed, defeated and betrayed by any hope he could have laid in his own sister and brother. He never lied to them. He was not very nice. But he never lied.

His sister reared back slightly, more out of the sudden movement than anything, then her face hardened and she stood her ground.

'Where is who, Gaara?' she asked, her green eyes narrowing on the younger boy. 'Naruto you mean? The same Naruto you keep pushing away, who you told him you didn't want to see anymore?'

He took a step back, surprised by the sudden attack. Then he hissed, narrowing his eyes and came closer to her clawing his fingers, like if he was ready to launch himself at her.

'What? I didn't ask you to ask me questions!' he barked' I asked to tell me where he is!'

'Yeah? Well, you are in no position to ask them!' she yelled, back, just as angry as he was. Temari had always been the one more in control of her temper, but Gaara had really struck a chord on her this time, and it wasn't a nice one.

'It's one thing to get mad at us, one thing to treat us like shit and expect us to come back. We are your family, and whether you like it or not, we are always going to do it! But what the hell makes you think you have any right to do the same to him? Moreover, what makes you think you have any right to expect him to come back asking for more! Maybe you like getting hurt, hurting others, and hurting yourself, Gaara, but he doesn't.'

Gaara hissed. Then took a step back, still hissing, not answering. Temari was someone, he had to admit. She stood against him when nobody else did. But she wasn't in the good position to do that. In his life he choose the fights. He didn't have to get heated up over her. He stopped hissing and looked at her with a thoughtful look. Sister. What an alien word. Maybe if he wasn't what he was he would love it. He would feel warm at the idea of it. Maybe he'd think of nice meal or warm breasts that would hug him when he would feel pained. But that was just a speculation.

'Why are you talking to me?' he asked quietly, looking at her like if she didn't matter 'I don't understand a word of what you say, human. Just blabber.'

Temari's eyes narrowed further, her teeth gritting lightly, before she grinned at him. It wasn't a very nice grin at all.

'Yeah Gaara, I'm sure you don't.' he posture finally relaxed, and she took a step back as well. 'And until you do, no one is going to tell you where he is. Naruto doesn't want to see you. You hurt him Gaara, and whatever you think you deserve, *he* doesn't deserve your shit. If you enjoy being fucked up, that's your problem. Don't try to drag him down with you.'

He looked at her. Calmly. Looked at her, registering what she said. Slowly. In silence. And then, suddenly, he lashed himself at her, growling, screeching bloody murder, throwing his fingers at her throat...

...and he stopped just right before.

'You're a woman.' he growled 'You're not worth it.'

Then he walked away.

Temari drew back from the attack automatically, falling down on the floor and staring at the redhead incredulously, then growling angrily as she got back up.

'Stay away from Naruto, Gaara!' she called after him, her eyes angry and hurt.

Gaara always hurt them too, but at some point, they felt they deserved it. They had abandoned him once, and having rescued him didn't amount to the fifteen years he'd lost, being treated like an animal and trying to turn him into one as well. No, they were paying and whatever they gave back to him would be too little and too late. But Naruto had done nothing at all to deserve such treatment, and Temari wasn't going to let Gaara treat him like that.

She was a woman. She talked nonsense. Shikamaru always said that women talked nonsense. And Shikamaru wasn't stupid so why would he want to say something like that without meaning it? But his brother... his brother was a man. He was a different matter. He wouldn't tell him that he will 'drag Naruto down' with him. He didn't drag anybody down. He didn't hurt anyone... not since the times in the laboratories anyway. It was just whole world who was hurting him. He just wanted to get close to Naruto. Why wouldn't Naruto want to see him? He always wanted to see him. And he said that he hated him - so what? Everyone hated him and yet he was fed, a had a bed to sleep on and they were nice to him after all. It was the same with laboratories.

It was natural for world to say they hated him. It didn't matter. He sighed, and closed his eyes, leaning on a wall. He would have his way. Even if they didn't tell him where he is, he would find him. He would.

Kankuro was a nice man. Maybe not the nicest - but good enough indeed. That's why he wasn't holding the situation very well. Any of it, actually. Every time Gaara ignored him he was sulking in the corner and trying to hang himself... on somebody's shoulder to cry his sorrow out. He really felt guilty when it came to his little brother. He remembered when he was young he was the one to convince uncle Yashamaru it was good idea to send Gaara away. Maybe it was only whining that Gaara was stealing his toys again and again - but it indeed helped in this decision, he was sure. Maybe it sounded a little childish, to think like that, but Kankuro wasn't exactly a grown up and couldn't fight of the guilty of this.

But he had hope. The foxy blond they've met during the searching for Gaara was a nutcracker - cracked everyone's shell that way or another and it seemed that he liked bouncing around Gaara of the most part of the day. He had hope, foolish hope, that maybe Gaara will subside, get better, change... But now it seemed like a distant dream. Hope was such a vain thing.

'Naruto.' he sighed, trying to sound reasonable, drinking on his cold tea, looking distant 'Don't you think it's enough of hide and seek? Gaara is looking for you.' _And he will have my ass soon_ he added in his thoughts. And he didn't want to end as a Scooby snack for angry raccoon. He wasn't so brave as his sister.

The younger boy was splayed on Kankuro's bed, with his head burrowed on the older male's pillow and listening to some nice music that was mostly drums and screaming. Not exactly the nicest thing, but it wasn't too loud and it really was entertaining - but the silly smile on his face immediately disappeared at the mention of the redhead, staying silent for a while before pressing the button that stopped the music.

The blond stayed with his eyes trained on the controls of the music machine before rolling off bed and next to the brunette, his eyes downcast as he pushed his head under his arm.

'… I don't want to see Gaara.'

'I understand.' Kankuro grimaced. 'I understand why. But really, I don't think he meant what he said. Just listen to this.'

In the distance there could be heard an angry, whiney purr-like growl.

'He really had enough, believe me.' Older male sighed. All in all, it was hard to stand in his position. He was more Gaara's than Naruto's and he was kind of helping on the wrong side of the barricade. 'You know, sometimes I think that he himself doesn't know what he wants and that it was the same this time.'

He sipped on his tea. And grimaced again as something big, probably a piece of furniture, went flying in the other room, probably being a result of his little brother's frustration. Naruto flinched lightly at the sound of the big something hitting the wall, and provably breaking, his sharp nails digging lightly on the older boy's jeans in apprehension. Of course he heard Gaara. Gaara wasn't doing those noises out of anger, he was calling him. The worst part was that he wanted to answer them, but… But Gaara had hurt him.

Gaara.

He clung to Kankuro's chest, expression needy as he tried to get the other to pet him. Kankuro smelt kind of like Gaara. Nowhere near the same scent, but it was still there, and it was stronger on him than on Temari, maybe that's why he wanted to be close them the most.

He… really, really wanted to be with Gaara, but the redhead didn't want to, and he wasn't a toy. Gaara couldn't just turn him on when he wanted to and off when he got bored of it.

'But… I don't want him to treat me like that. It's not my fault! I`m not something for-for him to play with!'

_And I don't want to die_ answered Kankuro, but only in his head. Instead of voicing it out loud he decided to pet the blond, since he seemed to be practically chasing his hand with need. His hair felt nice, indeed, but Kankuro felt a little awkward, stroking hair of another man. Not that he minded, but maybe not when it felt so... how to say it... men didn't play touch-a-tag, he was sure. And Naruto was rather clingy.

'Nobody is.' he said, trying to sound reasonable, though the feeling of suicidal-ness crept over him. 'To tell the truth I don't really get him like I would want to, so I don't know what to tell you, kid. He is just so... distant.'

_Very distant_, he thought defectively, petting Naruto's hair absent-mindedly.

'It's probably our fault that he is like that' he whispered, sipping on his almost ended now tea again 'Have you tried to tell him to not treat you like that?' he asked, though he knew, that nothing changed Gaara's behavior unless he wanted to change himself. And he simply didn't budge.

'Yeah... I don't get why he isn't more like you.' Kankuro smiled sadly, petting Naruto behind the ear 'But maybe because you two are completely different things...' He drank the rest of his tea. 'I wish he was more like you.' he said tiredly. He was being selfish, but sometimes life wasn't all about being good to others, when others treated you like trash and dirt.

'Care to become my brother instead of him?' he joked half-heartedly, trying to lighten the atmosphere, though the loud bang and angry shouting of one member of Hyuuga's family could be heard and instantly dropped the mood.

The younger boy laughed a little, nuzzling against the other.

'I don't have brothers, you could be mine.'

'You can be both.' Kankuro said, laughing sourly. Then he got up and messed up his own hair a bit, like if he was fighting with himself, then he slumped his shoulders, sighing.

'Naruto...' he murmured 'Are you going to meet him today?...'

The blue eyes turned towards the closed door, sending the redhead to have retreated from the area for the time being, but...

'...why would he want to see me? he told me to leave him alone.' the boy sounded sulky.

'Yes. I bet he did.' Kankuro whispered. Then he walked to the door, opened it and shouted. 'Gaara? It's me Kankuro!' Sudden silence followed. He didn't turn to look at the blond 'Come here! I found Naruto!' Then he closed the door and looked into blue eyes.

'Sorry.' he said quietly 'But bastardness runs in the family.'

A high pitched sound of surprise escaped the younger boy and he looked around in a panic, trying to find any sort of exit, but there was none, other than the door. He didn't have time to blame Kankuro or feel betrayed for it- he would do it later, undoubtedly, but right now, he just wanted to be somewhere safe.

Maybe if he hurried, he could outrun Gaara. He leaned down, muscles tense as he prepared to make a dash for it-

...and then Gaara entered the room. And as he did it, Kankuro in one swift move has exited himself, closing the door and turning the key in the lock.

'I'm going to make myself some more tea!' he shouted, hiding the keys inside his pocket 'Don't kill yourselves until I come back, okay?'

And he was gone. Gaara stood there, unmoving, looking at the door, licking his lips after the long outrun. He wouldn't mind some tea. He was thirsty after searching for blond so long. And that kinda ticked him off. Beside everything else, of course. Like hell he would listen to anyone, by the way. He saw the empty cup on the table of the room and took it, licking the last few drops, easing the dryness in his mouth, eyeing the blond. Now that he was here, there was no hurry.

No hurry in anything AT ALL.

'Naruto.' he said, though it sounded more like a swish of the whip. 'Where have you been?'

The younger boy reared back until he hit the wall when Gaara entered the room, his eyes going to the door. He could break it. Really, he could, it wouldn't be that hard, only- Only Gaara was in between. And he couldn't get closer to Gaara. He moved as far away from the other as he could, eyeing the other distrustingly as Gaara picked the tea up and licked it, nails clicking lightly against the floor in his apprehension.

'…away.' He finally mumbled.

'But not far?' This wasn't a question. The redhead slowly let go of the porcelain cup and looked around, seeing the furniture and posters. He rarely got close to Kankuro's room, since he didn't even have any interest in his older brother. He didn't expect Naruto to hide there, though now, as he thought about it, it was highly possible to turn out that way.

'I -called- you.' he said, sounding cold and blaming.

The blue eyes narrowed. 'You told me to leave you alone with your stuff, so I did.'

The redhead moved, quickly approaching.

'I -CALLED- you.' he repeated with emphasis, like if it changed everything. To him - it did.

Naruto growled, a warning sound low on his throat, his hands curling into claws. 'Stay away from me!'

'Don't try giving me orders.' he said quietly, still approaching Naruto. He wanted to touch the blond again. He went too long without it. And if he wanted to, he would act on it. He stepped closer and reached out for Naruto's face. Naruto lashed at him. he didn`t actually hit him, but he had every intention of doing it if Gaara tried to touch him again.

'I don`t want you to touch me!' he hissed, his posture even more tense. Gaara stopped, uncertain at the words. He bit his lips, blinked, and approached again.

'I don't want you to not want me.' he said, this time reaching for a shoulder. Naruto snarled, his teeth snapping inches away from Gaara`s hand.

'Leave me alone!'

Gaara froze at the volume of the speech. Then he flared his canines, growled and started pacing around the room. After two, three rounds of going back and forth he caught one of Kankuro's pillows and threw it at blond.

'Stop acting like this!' he snarled.

Naruto growled back at the other's show of aggressiveness, and he was so riled up he tore the pillow before it had a chance to get near him.

'That's not what you said then! You told me to leave you alone, so I did! Now you leave me alone!'

'Are you stupid? If I'll leave you alone how am I supposed to know if something's happened to you!' he practically yelled, throwing another pillow onto the ground. Naruto was so... so... a copy cat! He... used his phrase against him! He didn't know what to do again because he never ever solely heard it used like that. He didn't register that it was because he didn't ever chase anyone, but it wouldn't change anything now, probably. 'That's ridiculous! Come here!' And he approached Naruto again, this time reaching out with both hands for the whole body.

Naruto snarled and leashed out, sharp nails drawing blood.

He yelped, holding on his wounded hand. Then he straightened, looking coldly into the corner.

'Fine.' he said quietly, feeling left out and abandoned 'Sit in that corner for the rest of your life. See if I care.' And he turned his back on him and sat near the door.

'Nobody will come in until I say so.' he whispered and started licking his hand. Seriously, world was an awful place lately. Naruto growled at the other menacingly, then moved back on top of the bed, purple eyes narrowing.

'Why are you doing this? You told me to leave you alone.'

'I needed to check on you.' he said, trying to soothe the stinging in his palm 'Babies must be babied. Especially crybabies.'

'I don`t want to be babied by you.' It really wasn`t like Naruto to be this aggressive, but he was afraid of Gaara, he didn`t want to let himself close to the other and then get hurt all over again. It was too much like the tests, and he had never liked them.

'Well, I want to baby you.' was the shrugging answer. 'You either let me or I won't let you out.'

'And after that?' Naruto`s voice was a low hiss. 'When you get bored of it and hurt me and yell at me?'

'Stop being a bubble gum, then I won't yell at you.' Was the thoughtful answer. Though, Gaara wasn't sure if he meant what he said. After missing the clingy, fruity, smelly and happy behavior of Naruto, he kind missed it. Every aspect of it actually.

'Why do you want me to be near you if you don`t like how I am!'

'Because.' And he cut the rest.

'Because what?'

Gaara looked at him, not answering, not trying to answer, ignoring him entirely.

The blond`s expression was a perfect picture of hurt, anger and stubbornness.

'I don`t want you.' he said slowly, his eyes finally leaving the redhead as he turned around, giving his back to him. 'I don`t want to be with you anymore, so leave me alone.'

'And I don't believe in any word you've just said.' The redhead was fingering his own shirt, trying out the loopholes for buttons, searching if any of his fingers could fit through the holes. He failed in the research, but he wasn't very interested in results to begin with. He watched the figure on the bed. Yes, Naruto was there. Finally. He saw only one part of him, the one that tried to block him out, but he liked what he saw. Not only psychically. Now, that Naruto was so close, he felt how much he actually missed the blond. He was so close, and yet so far away. Everything inside him practically crawled on the floor to get closer to the figure, but he stayed as stoic as ever, knowing, that it wouldn't do him no good. His stinging palm was the proof of it. But he still yearned.

And it was a strong need. So strong it was hard to control it. Actually, it seemed that he was being the one who was controlled by his own need. Like always, when his instincts won. Side effect of experiments. So, as embarrassing and betraying it was, he gave in, and started breathing differently. And with every exhale, he gave out a purr. Calm one. Soothing one. Calling one. He obviously couldn't communicate with words so he hoped beyond hope that if he let out even a bit of what hummed around his heart it would reach the creature laying just before his nose. Because it hurt to hear what he said. Because it mattered if the situation changed. Because he...

...sort of...

...li-... lik-...

He continued on purring.

Naruto growled warningly in response to the other's words, but continued facing away. Of course they were a lie. He did want to be close to Gaara, he MISSED Gaara horribly, and his warmth and scent, and he missed the way he felt when the other was so close to him- but Gaara had told him he didn't care for him!

And Naruto didn't want to hear it again, didn't want Gaara to push him away anymore. He wasn't a thing for Gaara to play with when he felt like it, he was a person, and he had feelings and Gaara didn't have any right to be mean to him just because. The sound took him by surprise, the only kind of things he'd ever heard Gaara produce being angry noises, not soothing ones, and he turned to stare at the redhead with worried eye, looking indecisive, then away again. No, nonononono, it was a trick. Gaara was toying with him.

It was taking effect on him. It was. But he wasn't as patient as he as suspected to be. Despite his cool appearance the redhead was rather snappy, and it was no different this time. He continued on purring, trying to keep the same calm and collected tone, but the longer it took the more desperate he grew. After thirtieth (or was it?) breath, his voice chords has wavered and he moaned painfully, deciding against himself to get up and close the distance between them, slowly and carefully. But he couldn't sit in one place just like that. He moaned again.

'Narrruto!...'

Naruto reared back slowly, his eyes again on the approaching figure, until his back hot the wall.

'Stay away.'

'No.' he whispered between one purr and another 'Don't retreat. Come to me...' He slowly took another two steps forward and held out his two arms. Not approaching anymore. Waiting.

A low whine escaped the blond`s throat, all this tension frightening him. He wanted to touch Gaara, he wanted Gaara to hold him and pet him, and he hesitantly put a hand forward, as if advancing, before shrinking back.

'...you told me to stay away from you!'

'And I regret it.' The redhead slowly swallowed saliva in his mouth, looking at indecisive person before him. He took a breath. The second, quickly following. He purred. 'I'm sorry.' he whispered only so softly. This was going too far for him. And yet, when he started with purring, he couldn't stop with what was coming after. It went like domino's pieces.

'I'm stupid.' 'Don't run away.' 'Stay with me.' 'Let me stay with you.' 'Let's stay together.' 'Please.' 'Please.' 'Please.' Somehow, in between one word and another, he started crying. Quietly, almost non-visibly, and yet... But acknowledging his inner turmoil that crept outside with more strength with every passing second was a scratch on his pride, on his path, on his life. So he stood in the same position, arms up, waiting, purring, and pretending to not talk (but actually talking) and pretending to not cry (and doing it too). His dignity was shred slowly, it fell quietly on the floor and for once he didn't even notice. He had other priorities.

Naruto hesitated again, and opened his mouth to tell Gaara that he really didn't want the other to be mean again, but before he could utter as much as a words Gaara started talking, and it wasn't the usual harsh, awful things he told him, the tone was too soft and pleading for anything like that and then Gaara was crying and that really was too much for the younger blond.

'Gaara-' he hesitated for a second, his mind telling him this really wasn't a good idea at all, before his instincts overrode the warning and he was up and reaching for the redhead. 'No, no, don't cry, Gaara, please don't be sad…' He nuzzled the redheaded face, licked the warm, dark skin under his eyes and hugged him softly. 'I'm sorry, please don't cry.'

It was easier said than done.

'I'm not crying.' he said proudly, though when he got a hold on the blond, felt his warm skin, his unique smell and could nuzzle blond mess of hair again it was not even easy to stay calm anymore. He gritted his teeth, trying to choke everything in himself out, but he ended only heaving a few, strong sobs through his canines and holding tightly onto what he had between his hands. Such mix of emotions, so many pain and hysteria was too much to him to bear. He never felt so hurt in his life in such way. And he never felt more relieved than now. He couldn't even speak. He managed to whisper 'Naruto' once and closed over him like a trap over a fly and stood there, with him, shaking, sobbing and feeling very, very happy. Oh, he missed him.

He missed the ball of sunshine he liked, LIKED so much. He barely registered the warm tongue on his face. So much happy he was.

Naruto yipped lightly in alarm when Gaara squeezed him like that, but Gaara was really crying now and the younger blond, who didn't even know that was possible, was too busy trying to think of something that would calm the redhead, even if just a bit.

'Gaara, don't cry!' he pleaded, his voice high and whiny a she kissed and licked the other clumsily.

'I'm not... I'm not-...' He tried to say that he wasn't crying, but strong hiccup actually interrupted his words. So he turned his head into one side, leaned into the blond and let himself be licked, cleaned, calmed, whatever Naruto was trying to do and after minute or two... He answered with his own tongue. It was funny at first, to lick the face of the one who is licking you, but he wanted to do it. He was grateful for having the blond back. And he missed him oh so terribly... He wanted to somehow pinpoint that he was not to run away, leave some of his scent, his mark...

He licked Naruto's cheek, his jawbone, his ear shell, his main vein and his Adam's apple, still sniffing a bit, but calming himself down. There was no reason to cry. it was all right. Naruto was here. He didn't have to search anymore. His little, beautiful... and a little salty, but his lips were such a fine place to lick upon he didn't mind tasting someone's tears (not his own! He wasn't crying, remember?) and going back, half licking, turning slowly into kissing, pressing his mouth into the skin, his nose in the yellow locks... Ah, beloved. Ah, do be loved. Do be feeling loved.

Naruto made a another small, whiny noise of content as Gaara started to lick him, still holding the other close and stroking the back of his head, his nails careful in the warm mess that were the red tresses. 'Gaara…' He pressed back with lips and tongue against the other's, one hand touching gently the side of the other's face and neck. 'It's ok, it's ok…'

'Ah it INDEED is okay.' was suddenly heard from the door, and the loud clap followed 'See, Temari? I told you they will find the same TONGUE to communicate with, see? They hadn't killed each other! Now who is stupid for being reckless, huh? Huh? Win for older brother!'

...and Kankuro entered the room. Actually bowing down, since Temari barely missed hitting him on the back of his head, and only because he dodged, he didn't spill the tea he was holding in his hand. It was not steaming, as it was supposed to, by the way.

'Ghrrr!' was Gaara's response, as he slowly turned his, red and puffy from crying, face into door's direction, still holding onto Naruto very tightly 'Stay back. I don't share.'

There was another little sound as Gaara tightened his grip on him, and Naruto stared at the redhead confusedly, not understanding why he'd be aggressive toward them. Temari-chan and Kankuro were always nice to him.

'They're just your brothers, Gaara.' Temari's green eyes narrowed on her brother, her eyes moving to the younger boy he was clutching to, then to the small stains of blood from the wound in Gaara's hands, but didn't say anything.

'Naruto... Did Gaara do anything you didn`t want him to?' The blond blinked at her, looking thoughtful for a second, then nudged the redhead lightly.

'He was crying.'

'I wasn't crying.' Gaara murmured, half growling, still clutching on Naruto for his dear life, shooting a needy glare to the exit doors once and then 'Baby only got angry at me.' he added, showing his wounded hand and hiding it almost in the same moment. Kankuro looked at them oddly.

'Baby?' then he turned to Gaara 'You sure you weren't crying? Cause your eyes are all red and slim-'

'I WAS NOT!' the redhead howled, then looked warningly at Temari, shooting her a death glare. 'I was not!...' Then he looked at Naruto with look of utter betrayal and disgust. 'Why did you say this?'

'Because you were crying…' Naruto didn't understand what the big deal was with crying. He did it as soon a she started feeling sad, and it helped him feel a little less overwhelmed when he was feeling sad, so the embarrassment for doing it in front of others was nonexistent in his mind. He let out a cry when the other screamed with him right there, the volume much too loud for his sensitive hearing, and startled, trying to push the other away.

'I wasn't. I told you I wasn't!' the redhead hissed, feeling betrayed. How could blond not see his embarrassment? He was no ordinary human, he was not supposed to show any more weakness he already had as a failed experiment. And now Naruto was just saying out loud that he CRIED like if he was a toddler needing a nanny.

'You haven't heard a word!' he said, turning to his family, but instantly getting back his attention to Naruto. 'What are you doing?' he whispered, surprised, feeling pressure against himself which he hadn't felt before. He let go, giving the blond a possibility to escape. 'What is this? You have enough of me now?'

Naruto stumbled back a couple steps, staring at the other confusedly. He didn`t understand Gaara. He got mad over nothing and started screaming.

'Why are you angry now?'

The redhead looked at Naruto with disbelief. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it and clamped it shut. Then he turned away from him and slowly caressed his skin on his forehead, speaking crisply: 'Nothing. I'm calm. It's nothing'. But what Naruto couldn't see now, Gaara's eyes were a completely different matter. He was sending bloody murder to both of his siblings. Kankuro trembled, seeing it and shook his head vigorously, signing that he didn't do, hear or know anything.

Temari looked back evenly, then sighed and rubbed the back of her neck tiredly. Well, whatever had happened, Gaara didn't seem to be forcing Naruto… Even if them being like this worried her, and not only on the blond's part. But Gaara *had* been crying, everyone with eyes could see that. And her little brother hadn't cried for as long as she'd known him, not since they took him away. Maybe… Naruto stared back at Gaara, still feeling the hostility creep out from him in waves and slowly approached, pressing against the other's back and wrapping his arms around the other's chest from behind.

'Gaara…?'

'It's nothing.' he repeated, grabbing one of the hands and pressing his lips into it, closing his eyes, backing down, slumping his shoulders, feeling that his siblings were getting a message more or less visibly. He gave put a deep rumble, then two more of calming purr and then he got up and walked out of Kankuro's room, retreating into the shadows, not saying a word.

'Man, that was a trouble, wasn't it.' sounded a lazy voice near the door 'I told you to not enter the room, woman.'

'If it were up to you, Gaara could eat him and you wouldn't move a finger because it's too troublesome.' The older blond hissed, throwing her lover a vicious glare. She softened it when she turned to the younger boy, extending a hand towards him. 'Naruto, Gaara didn't really do anything to hurt you, did he…?'

The whiskered boy shook his head quickly, actually starting to feel guilty about the fact he had been the one to hurt Gaara, and not the other way around.

'No… Gaara didn't hurt me, but… Um.' he nudged her hand one, nervously, then ducked underneath it. 'I need to find Gaara!' he said, quickly following the redhead's scent.

'Yeah, good luck on that!' Kankuro shouted, while Shikamaru only yawned, mumbling something about 'blond food being served only in one, very adultery way to some redheads' and not other way around so why would he have to move his important fingers he so needed to write on keyboard and... Not that it was important, of course.


	4. Chetyreh

Gaara was walking through a dark corridor, looking for the darkness and calamity it gave. He needed to think. Blond ball of sunshine was really moving him. So much he had even begged it to come back to him and cried openly in front of it just in the urge to touch and to hug. That was outrageous, in some kind of surrealistic way, since he, Gaara, was not a clingy person, not nice and especially NOT touchy feely. If anything, he was scathing and dangerous. And yet...

He remembered meeting Naruto when he was little. Even then the little goof had a nice effect on him. But not as strong as now... Was it the feeling of 'likeness'? Was he 'liking' Naruto? Was it friendship? It seemed like a very thoughtfully screwed up friendship. He spent most of his life alone. He didn't get that kind of things. And now he had to endure the beating heart, flippy frogs jumping in his stomach and drug-like scent, which made him want to probably eat the blond, since he couldn't get enough of nuzzling, licking and tasting. Maybe that was some kind of sickness? He was so confused...

'Gaara!' the hyperactive blond nearly tackled the redhead in his haste to cling to the other. Gaara was acting really weird, weirder than usual. And now that they were okay again, Naruto didn't want to have the older boy angry at him anymore. For some reason he had gotten really angry at him admitting he was crying and denying it, but he really didn't understand what was the big deal with it- everyone cried. Kankuro cried almost as much as he did, actually. 'Where are you going now…?'

He stumbled, not expecting the sudden tackle. He was so deep in his thoughts he ignored the obvious scent that was overcoming him now in waves.

'What?...' he asked, looking at the blond 'Out... I want out.' Then he showed to the small tunnel that led to the outside world. He actually wanted to go out alone in some grass-field surrounding and think a bit, but since Naruto was with him again, he wasn't really eager to kick him away. 'Want to come with me?'

Naruto stopped at that, actually looking at the older boy seriously.

'Out?' he breathed the words as if it were a piece of some ancient language he couldn`t quite make sense of, and he licked his lips and shifted a bit. '...Neji and Shikamaru said we shouldn`t go out.'

'And your point is?' he asked, feeling a bit annoyed that Naruto brought them up like if they had a say in that matter. It wasn't working for him. If he wanted out, he would go out. 'It's not like we're going to escape. Just walk around a bit.' He added, trying to sound reassuring when Naruto started to become stressed. He looked at him for a moment, then turned and took his leave. 'Babies shouldn't walk around by themselves on the outside. Stay home.'

'Don`t call me a baby, I`m not one!' the younger boy immediately followed, wanting to go out more than anything in the world, but... But these people had helped him so much, and he was so happy here... He didn`t want Neji to have problems with his family because of him, or Shikamaru with his bosses, or- But Gaara was going to go out. And he`d always, always wanted to see the outside.

'Yes, you are.' he answered, scratching the lock and trying to get it opened 'You'll be easily hurt outside. You really hadn't grown since...' the lock has jingled, signaling it was opened. He opened it and crept slowly outside, searching in the bright light the scent of trees and flowers. He wanted to be out in wild. He knew it had to be somewhere close... He glanced back at Naruto. 'What are you still doing here?'

'I`m not a baby! ' the blond protested loudly, his hand automatically reaching for the other`s shirt and clinging. '...You told me to stay with you.'

Gaara had told him he wanted to be with him, so he wasn't going to leave him alone now. The redhead stared at him in silence. Then he licked Naruto's cheek quickly and grabbed him across his hips to quickly push him with himself. Yes, he did say something like that. No, he wasn't going back on his words. Maybe he won't be able to think everything out, but some nice walk would do him good too. He wasn't there since...

...when? He remembered being carried with Temari on Kankuro's back, but he wasn't in his best state of consciousness then. He only hoped he would find his way back. Especially when he had Naruto with him. 'But if you'll get mortally wounded I'll kill you.' he whispered, going through the tight passage that led them to the real outside world.

'Wouldn`t I die anyway?' the younger boy asked, excited about the prospect of being outside anyway. He didn`t remember being out. He`d been asleep when they loaded him in the plane and when he woke up he was down here already. He moved forward, his pupils dilating at the dimming light, not that he needed his vision to find the way. He didn`t need Gaara guiding him either, the scent of fresh air was easy to follow, and he did so quickly. 'What`s outside like?'

White feet stopped their movement for a moment. What was outside like? He stared at the door beside him, thinking, wondering...

'It's like in newspapers.' he said, then let go of Naruto and started rummaging around the new lock 'Only worse. It's...' He searched for a word, trying to push the wings and be as quiet as possible with this. Wind blew through the small opening in the door and he flared his nostrils, effulging himself in the new, completely unknown smell. Then the lock sang, and the door was opened.

He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Naruto, slowly creaking it open. Click-clacking of the stilettos and a loud beeping of cars could be heard.

'It's...' he said again, unsure of what to say 'It's... different.' Because he hadn't really remembered it like that. He didn't know the place. So much have changed since his last free walk upon the street...

Naruto had stopped and was now glued to the redheads back, hands digging lightly on his shoulders as he peered curiously over one of them.

'Different how…?'

He knew it was different from the books they gave him to read. Not like fiction, not like the movies. He knew because he had been told, but he couldn't imagine how. Where he was sting now wasn't that different from the labs, only he could go anywhere and almost everyone wanted to talk and pet him, but that was it. Outside was a different things, and from outside came the food, but he didn't know what it could be like.

He looked up, a little overwhelmed by the sound of so many people moving, and moved closer to the older boy.

'Isn't anywhere with less people? I don't want them to see me.' He was weird. His eyes were different than them, and even if it wasn't that much… he didn't want to be found and taken back to the lab. He'd kill himself before that.

'They see you now.' he said, and moved forward, still sniffing, turning around. People were passing him by, noticing, but not really looking at him. Some child has pointed at his black marks under his eyes, then it pointed at Naruto's cheeks and giggled. He caught up a sweet smell of the forest floor and started walking toward it. He glanced back once, looking if Naruto was going after him, but suddenly a loud beep has startled him, and a big machine stopped only a few inches before him. If he hadn't jumped back, hissing, it would have probably hit him.

'What the hell are you doing?' could be heard. More cars was starting to pile up along the strange, blue road he walked upon and beeped, shouted and screamed at him.

He tried to ignore them, but they were just too loud. So he decided to leave. Strangely, when he took a step forward, another line of cars has formed, shouting at him and screaming. He looked back annoyed, wondering if not actually shut them up by some violence. Someone threw a sweet smelling drink in the metal can at him and hit his head. He growled, sniffing and trying to find the right trail of the forest scent again.

'Naruto' he called, wanting to have him close by himself.

The younger boy shrunk back at Gaara's words, and even further back when people started noticing them. But Gaara went out and Naruto let out a high cry of alarm and seemed stuck between leaving and following his companion. He didn't like out. He didn't like out one bit too many people, too much noise and they were staring at him and the lab people could find him and-

He whined low on his throat, claws digging on the metal of the door as he started clawing at it in his distress, his eyes starting to change from blue to purple. He wanted to go back, and he wanted Gaara to come back with him, but he was going AWAY! And so many people were STARING at him now, and if he went close he'd be seen too, and-and-

Someone threw something at Gaara and his claws actually ranked the metal hard enough for it to give into the pressure and scratches to appear in the surface. In a moment Naruto was between the redhead and the glaring light and noise, eyes red and furious as the marks on his cheeks extended and roughened, a furious growl escaping his chest.

The redhead caught the vague scent again. He wanted to go by it, but he stopped, startled, hearing a furious growl and feeling the strong wave of strength coming from Naruto. What was he doing? Was this a sound of... warning? Could Naruto be... protecting him? It couldn't be. Nobody protected him from anything. And yet, it looked like that.

He felt an alien throb pounding inside his ribcage, and a sudden urge to nuzzle the blond till he couldn't breathe, but that was too ridiculous to do, so he didn't act on it. And in addition they were getting even more attention now. Too much even for his own likings, and too much for such a private thing as nuzzling.

'Stop making a scene.' he breathed, still touched by the sole act and grabbed the blond by the hand and tugged him to go with him. He felt the forest. Forest was a good place to nuzzle him for this foolish act.

Naruto allowed the contact, and even let Gaara start dragging him away, but the red eyes were still trained on the screaming people and he didn't stop growling until they were completely out of sight. When they were at what the blond felt a safe distance he used Gaara's hold to pull him closer and reached up for his face, his hands feeling quickly for the wound on his forehead and starting to lick the small trail of blood clean, a sort of whine escaping his lips. Those people had hurt Gaara. And now he smelt all fruity, too, like Tenten`s bubblegum.

It felt really nice. Even if his wound he hadn't even noticed he had stung a little. He breathed, closing his eyes at the feeling, but instantly opening them and pushing blond boy away.

'Stop that.' he snarled, looking around 'People don't do that! You'll get us in trouble!' And really, there had to be a pair of old people that was looking at them strangely. He decided to ignore them and started walking forward, feeling the fresh air closer, seeing more trees... Only, it wasn't that many. And they even looked like they've been collected and reshaped, with nicely formed roads full of white stones around them. Even the splash of water, the one he took for a little waterfall, came out as an ordinary fountain.

'What is this?' he thought, feeling puzzled 'Where is the lake? And birds?'

Naruto growled lightly at the old people, not deeming them a threat but not wanting them to get too close to Gaara anyway. He followed the redhead, his eyes still that disturbing shade of red as he spied in every direction to try and make sure nothing dangerous would sneak on them. A few persons were still staring at them weirdly, but at least Naruto was confident they wouldn't try to approach them, and that was enough. He stopped next to the taller teen, looking around the park.

'Gaara?'

'Forest.' Gaara answered quietly 'We're in the forest. It's like in newspapers... only worse.' He was obviously let down by what he saw. He looked around and then took a few steps forward, standing near the fountain. He dipped his head underwater, but when he saw no fishes, he started to drink. That only ended with coughing fit. Water tasted awful. He walked back to Naruto and placed his hand on his hip, getting him close to his side.

'Don't drink it. It's probably poisoned.'

He glanced at the sky, searching for wild animals, but found only a few grey birds. He didn't like it in a bit.

'Gaara, don't drink that water!' Naruto immediately dragged the redhead away, fingers smoothing back the messy wet hair. 'That's a fountain Gaara, you are not supposed to drink from it! People toss stuff into it, like pennies, and pennies are dirty!'

That's what he'd been told, at least. Once he'd tried to eat some pennies that had fallen from one of his assigned guards and the man had gone on and on about bacteria and microorganisms that would make him sick. He licked the other's lips to get the water off him, made a face at the taste and licked them again.

'This isn't a forest, it's a park. There are no forest in the cities.'

So... they were in park? How far in the city they actually were? Could that be it was too big to sneak out of it in one night? How was he supposed to get away from the laboratories like that? And the food...

...the food would be good even right now. Thankfully, there was some little bar on circles, which seemed to sell warm meat of dogs. He didn't particularly care if he ate dogs or cats, his taste buds were practically dulled by scientific food he was given back in the past.

'Come on.' he said and took Naruto by hand, closing the space between them and colorful tetra-house-cycle.

He didn't have money. He didn't need any. As usual, he just walked near and grabbed whatever he wanted to get and walked away, dragging Naruto with him.

'That will be 9,90... hey, miste- HEY! Thieves! Stop!' Gaara didn't actually spare a glance to anything that was happening beside him, including Naruto. He just held tightly on blond's hand and jumped on the nearest tree, crawling to the most steady branch and sitting on it. Totally ignoring the shouting. He ate in silence. It hadn't tasted as bad as he thought it will. It didn't even smell of Akamaru, one of the lab worker's dog. He licked his fingers after munching on first two bites. Then he looked at Naruto, like if he was wondering if not to share. After a moment or two, without a single word, he gave the blond the rest of food. It seemed like if they gathered quite a publicity. Very loud publicity. He growled in his chest, and when they didn't shut up, he yelled: 'Silence! Or I'll murder you!' And growled some more, when the silence did not come.

Naruto followed the redhead, much more worried by the attention they were gathering. Gaara didn't seem to care, but Naruto did. Thieves meant they were stealing something, which meant they were supposed to pay for it… and they didn't have any money. And he wasn't hungry either. He pushed the food away and curled as close to the redhead a she could, trying to block out the noise and the people, not that it worked.

'Gaara.' he said, his voice uncharacteristically low. '…let's go back.'

The redhead stopped growling for a moment, looking at Naruto. He sniffed his face curiously, then slowly got up, holding his balance, looking down.

'If you're so scared, then go back on your own.' he murmured gravely 'Maybe I'll come back for you later.'

And then he took a step forward, jumping in-between the gathering. No, he really wasn't planning on getting back. Not for a moment. Naruto whimpered and moved nervously on his perch, not knowing what to do. This place wasn't safe, nowhere but back where they had been was safe and Gaara was still calling attention. And he was so scared, so very very scared but he couldn't leave Gaara alone, what if he started crying or he got captured or they hurt him- As if reading his mind, the beefy man that had been tending to the hot dog cart put a strong hand on the redhead's shoulder.

'Listen, you better pay up, or-'

In less time that it took anyone to even register the offense, the red-eyed blond had pushed the man away brutally, sending him sprawling into another pair of onlookers and skidding several meters before stopping.

'Don't touch Gaara!' he snarled, his body bent down animalistically and claws ranking the concrete.

The mass of people wavered, stepping back. Someone has screamed, somebody started screaming 'run!' and 'they're dangerous!' but beside that everyone was standing like petrified llamas in the middle of the road. Gaara had slowly brushed off his touched shoulder and came close to Naruto.

'Seriously, I swear…' he murmured under his breath, then grasped the blond by the skin on the back of his neck and squeezed it painfully hard 'I can't leave you for a freaking damn minute!...'

He looked at him harshly, showing his canines. What a pain. He couldn't get away like that. He had to go back and drop this baby in its den, or it would end up getting hurt or hurting him in the process. The things he was doing were awfully cute, but it wasn't about the cuteness, it was about getting away. Naruto made another high pitched cry of pain at having the skin of his neck pulled like that, and he trashed to make Gaara let go of him, looking at him with wide, confused and fearful eyes. Why was Gaara angry at him now? He just wanted to protect him!

'Calm down.' the redhead commanded and tossed the blond onto shoulder 'We're going back.'

And he skipped on the path he knew he took when he was getting there, still ignoring the people who were now starting to panic. He ran across the street, managing to stop only one line of cars and he crept closer to their exit - now entrance. It engulfed them in the darkness, in the old scent of the known place and still air. It felt like home. Like an old cage. But if he was quick enough... maybe nobody knew that they left on the first place... But the running that could be heard along the hidden paths in the darkness already told him that it was a wish to not obtain. He put Naruto down on the floor and hoped to the entrance again, but it was just as he thought.

Electrically closed after only one more usage. Clever bastards were supposing that they might actually want to come back for something and closed them off. They'll probably make them stay in glassy cages again without food, like in the past. His life was hopeless. Why did he even agree to taking the blond with him? Why? It couldn't be that he would actually miss him when he left. Though yes, it could, the previous disappearance proved it enough for him. It wasn't his life that was hopeless. It was definitely something wrong with him. Because even now... even now he had an urge to just gather him in his arms and make sure it was better now. Like the blond wanted. He brushed carelessly the yellow hair and whispered crisply: 'You okay now?'

Naruto, of course, was crying. He didn't understand anything that was happening, outside was HORRIBLE and Gaara had wanted to leave him alone, then he'd gotten mad at him and then he'd pinched him and if they had been followed everyone would be in danger because of them. He whined and shied away from the other's hand, curling into a little ball. 'Leave me alone,' he sniffed. Gaara was playing again and he didn't want to do it at all.

Gaara stared at him, puzzled.

'But you said... you said you wanted to...' He really didn't know what to think of those sudden tears of the blond. He did what the other wanted and now Naruto was crying? A small sniff had clenched his insides painfully yet again, so he got on his knees and got closer to the boy before him. 'Don't cry' he said in a hushed, tired tone 'Don't cry, baby... don't...'

He reached out and slowly stroked the yellow mess, ending up in brushing some tears away. Ah, it hurt him now too...

'Don't cry...' he repeated quietly 'I won't do that again... I promise...'

'Oh, I'm sure you won't.' And that wasn't Naruto's voice. He turned around only to see a group of people standing in the circle around them in rather aggressive manner. In one instant he shifted, turning his torso on them, like if he wanted to hide the blond behind him.

'I took him out.' he said, before his reasonable self got a chance to think up some believable lies 'It's my fault. Totally.' He looked at the face of his brother, which was visible in the group, but violet face has only looked left, not meeting his eyes, refusing to help. He glanced at his sister.

'It's my fault.' he repeated, deciding to cling to that lie 'Don't punish him.'

'I'm not a baby! Don't call me that!' Naruto whined, leaning into the other's hand and clinging to him despite his conscious minds bets efforts to tell him otherwise. He had felt the other men's presence in the back of his mind, but he hadn't cared until Gaara turned around like that and started saying things…

'Wait, wait.' he sniffed, quickly rubbing his sleeve's over his eyes to get himself to stop crying.

Temari-chan and Kankuro were there, but also Neji, Shikamaru and Iruka and lots of blind-people, and everyone looked angry at Gaara- He clung to the redhead's side, eyes wide.

'Punish? You aren`t going to punish Gaara, are you? He didn't do anything bad!' Maybe he had gone out when he shouldn't, and they had stolen stuff but Gaara hadn't meant to and it was his fault too, he had followed him and they couldn`t- 'They already hurt Gaara, you don't need to punish him!'

'If you're hurt, you will be going to the hospital wing.' the noble heir of Hyuuga family spoke 'And then you will be getting your right treatment. Are you hurt?'

'No.' was the cryptic answer.

'Very well.' Gaara eyed the man with long hair who was looking at him without a single blink. Blank eyes almost, almost mirrored his own face in this dark corridor.

''Very well' what?' he asked rudely, looking back and forth the group of almost identical people with white eyes. He was a little hurt from that fruity can, but he was not going to admit that out loud. His appearance was a failure enough.

'We don't know, geez.' Shikamaru said, looking at them with a harsh glare, not matching his lazy posture 'You just sneaked out in the middle of the day on the street full of people. Do you know how troublesome is that? You don't exist as a race, as living beings in the grey mass' consciousness. This will take us ages to explain.'

'Walking on trees... inhuman strength... we already have some reports. What were you thinking?' This time it was some older male from the Hyuuga clan. Gaara glared.

'We weren't.' he admitted viciously. He had no other words he could speak up if he wanted to not be held in chains and with no food.

'That's right. Naruto...' The man with brown ponytail and a big scar across his nose spoke up 'I'm disappointed in you. How could you...? You know very well that you are forbidden to leave the place!'

'I said it's not his fault!'

'Be quiet, Gaara. We heard you.' Neji Hyuuga looked at them with a stoic face. For a moment or two there could be seen a glimpse of anger, but nothing more. 'It seems that it's more about you two instead only for one of you...' Words rolled off his tongue in manner of a gentleman. But their meaning was not what Gaara wanted to hear. He looked, his eyes widening, at Hyuuga. 'It think it would be good to separate you two for some time.'

'I'm sorry.' The younger blond mumbled guiltily, looking at the floor to avoid their eyes. They were right, he shouldn't have left, he should have stopped Gaara. 'I'm sorry, I just wanted to be out a bit, I was going to come back, really!'

'But what if something happened to you? What if the Akatsuki found you and took you back? Because of you two we are going to have to relocate immediately, this place isn't safe anymore for any of us!'

Naruto fisted Gaara's shirt, a deep whine of distress emitting from his chest. It wasn't the volume or the words, it was the fact that they were right.

'I'm sorry.' he said again, his voice barely above a whisper. Then Neji`s words sunk in. 'I- no. No, I want to stay with Gaara.'

'You're not the one to dictate any, I repeat, any conditions Naruto.' was the cold answer of Neji. 'And we won't go soft on you only because you wanted to go out. It's almost like if you wanted to get yourself caught by Akatsuki! Do you think that 'I just wanted to be standing in the middle of the ground where everyone can see me' is forgivable? Do you think that 'I just wanted to see if razor blades will cut my skin till it bleed, I didn't want to actually die' is forgivable? No, it's not. Silence, Gaara!'

Gaara in an instant stopped a deep hostile rumble he was giving off at the new tirade of Neji.

'Go pack your things, whatever you have. We will be moving out tonight. You two will be held separately and with no possibilities to communicate. Be proud of yourselves, damn it! You can only thank your recklessness!'

'Neji... maybe you're too harsh...'

'Of course I am, Kankuro! How am I supposed to treat such crime? If you know, then maybe you will tell me what to do? You can take my place as the head of the operation then, very well!'

Kankuro didn't answer, looking completely defeated. Gaara blindly touched Naruto with his hands and slowly crawled back, pressing them both to the wall, the furthest thing he could do in any escape he could.

'No.' he said, looking at the faces before him 'I said it's not his faul-...'

'Take them to their rooms. If they'll get aggressive, use this.' he said, showing a syringe with green liquid. Sleeping drugs. Now he knew he wasn't going to win this battle. No once he could get away with such thing, when he had so many problems with sleeping.

'What?' this was Temari. Temari had been just as angry as the rest of them, and just as ready to chew them up for being two little selfish idiots, but at no point had she even considered they would do something like this to them. 'Drug them? You are going drug them and lock them up?' She stepped away from the Hyuuga leader as if he were something filthy that had spilled next to her.

'No, I'm going to lock them up separately and drug them up only if they'll not submit willingly.' He didn't even turn his face to her, already preparing to take his leave. 'I something not clear in what I said, Temari?'

'Yeah, what the fuck makes you think I'm going to let you?'

'Temari-san, please.' one of the older Hyuuga tried to touch her shoulder, but she slapped his hand away.

'Fuck you Hyuuga! You might be the leader, but Kankuro and I are only doing your shit to keep our brother safe. We put our money and our asses in the line to get him out of that place because they were torturing him, and now you are going to start doing the same?'

Temari didn't normally raise her voice like this, and they definitely should have been grateful for that simple fact.

'Fuck, are you listening to yourself?'

This time Neji did turn his stoic face to her.

'Are you?' he said, while his marble facade shone undisturbed in the dark corridor. 'Your money, your asses, my conditions, my rules. You agreed to that when I asked if you want to use me as a rescue team.'

He stepped slowly to her, his dark boots lightly click-clacking in the cold floor.

'Do you really think you're that smart?' he asked, coming a few inches from her, disturbing her personal space 'If yes, then show me how you do it without my help. Show me how to punish them without causing a massive hysteria, show me how to keep your egoistic bastard of a brother who listens only to himself and goes on a rampage without usage of my drugs, tell me how to do it without chaining them down, making them wear blinds, without hitting them till they faint!' He looked back at one of his co-workers.

'Get him to his room kindly.'

'Wha... what?' 'I said: get him to his room kindly, just like she would want it to be.'

'B-but...'

'No 'buts'.' A loud gulp could be heard, then a young man slowly came closer to the redhead. Gaara obviously tensed up. 'P-please, c-could you g-get up...'

'No!' he hissed, almost crushing Naruto with his closing to the wall 'Don't come near us!'

'But I insist that you-... you sister said...'

'I don't care!' Long fingers with short, but sharp claws lashed out and wounded the held out arm. Wild cry of a man echoed through the corridor, followed by a hostile rumble from Gaara's chest. Neji slowly turned his face to Temari, not once leaving his gaze from her.

'I'm only being merciful' he said calmly 'To everyone of us.'

'We agreed on the basis that you'd HELP HIM!' Temari grit her teeth and stepped even closer, not one bit intimidated by the taller invading her personal space, if anything, even more angered by his words. 'We accepted your conditions to get Gaara out of a place that was doing that to him! And hell, if you are going to treat him like that, to do the exact same things, then yes! If this is the help you are going to be giving us, we are definitely going to be better on our own!'

'I'm only being merciful.' Neji repeated calmly 'To everyone of us.'

'Keep your shit away from my brother and I will be merciful to your ass.' she hissed, pushing him away from her and turned towards the pair. Naruto whimpered and shrunk back with Gaara. 'Gaara, you did enough for a day.' she hissed, her green eyes as hard as his. 'We need to get out of here. You can see Naruto later.'

'No, he can't.' Neji's voice still was as calm as before 'If you're going to get out of here, do it immediately. We will evacuate with Naruto as fast as possible, without giving directions to our new base to anyone from... out.' He turned to his co-workers yet again 'I keep up my orders, we are moving out, pack yourselves. And yes, those rules apply to you too, Shikamaru.'

'That's not fair, man!' could be heard an unhappy groan 'Who knows how long we will be out in this troublesome nowhere! I need to have contact with my woman!'

'You won't, that's an order. Take Naruto away to his room, use force if it's needed. As for Gaara' he faced Temari and Kankuro, who was standing away, pretty scared 'You can do with him whatever you want. I don't care will you do it, just leave the base immediately.'

Gaara's hostile rumble was still growling in the corridor.

'Stay back, you pieces of meat!' he snapped angrily 'Anyone who comes near me will be sliced to pieces! Anyone!'

'But Gaara... we're not with them anymore...'

'I will kill you!'

Kankuro shrunk in his position again.

'Don't I get to choose what to do?' Naruto said suddenly, his eyes welling with tears again as he stared at the older boy. 'Why are you treating me like this? I'm not a thing!'

Gaara looked at him, for a moment worry flashing on his face, but vanishing as fast as it came.

'I'm not keeping you from talking.' he said, still glaring at the people before him. Neji was already gone. 'I'm between hell and high water, don't look at me.'

Shikamaru obviously didn't want to take part with any side.

'I just want to have my job to get money to pay rent and keep my woman healthy and fed.' I

ruka stood back, wearing black gloves, that kept skin from high temperature.

'It's hard to explain, Naruto. But what is done is done. Please, let go of Gaara. He can't stay with us anymore.'

'You better start looking for a new one.' Temari said, not looking at the lazy genius. She shouldn't have felt so betrayed by his words, considering how well she knew him, but she still did. 'This woman is getting the fuck out of here.' She brushed past Kankuro, hitting him squarely on the shoulder. 'And thanks for the backup, idiot. Go pack, we are leaving.'

Naruto shrunk back from Iruka, turning his blue eyes towards the person clutching him.

'Gaara…?'

'Yeah, and how are we going to pay for our living? Have you forgotten we are in debts, Temari? All money you had went for searching for your troublesome brother over there. It's not easy to find a new job in laboratory! You live off what I get, both of you!' Kankuro shrank again, seeing the pointy finger shoved at his face. 'And now it's gonna be three. How are you planning on living after I get fired? Nobody will hire you three, your faces are known in the whole country! And not for good reasons either!'

'I'll go pack' whispered the middle sibling , still massaging the place where Temari had hit him and walking off scurriedly.

'Stay back!' Gaara howled yet again, lashing out curtly at one of the laboratory workers. 'Don't you dare to lay finger on me, you!...' Then he turned to Naruto and quickly kissed the base of his nose, laughing sardonically. 'You see, baby, the difference between you and me is in our completion. You are supposed to be perfect, and I am just a frailer experiment...' he snapped his canines at Iruka's fingers, which were trying to get a hold on Naruto '... so I don't really understand what's going on... human's talk is just a big load of nonsense. An utter blabber. I don't listen to unimportant things and I move WHEN I WANT TO MOVE!'

The last part was screamed at someone who grabbed him by shoulders and almost got him up, if it wasn't for a strong kick Gaara gave him. Then he looked around and caught his sister's gaze.

'You hear me? I move when I want to move.' he said cockily, throwing her an open challenge.

Temari flushed at her lover's words, feeling like if someone had decided to try and squeeze her lungs for shits and giggles. She couldn't believe Shikamaru would just throw something like that to her, rub something so- so humiliating on her face.

'Then good riddance for you.' she said, her voice barely a whisper. It hadn't meant to come like that, she would have liked it to sound so much meaner, so much stronger- but it hadn't. There wasn't enough air in the room and she couldn't raise her voice above that. Her eyes went to Gaara's, and held. 'What we do is not your business anymore, Shika. We are leaving.'

'Wha... ha!... Hey! Don't turn your back on me, Temari! I am only thinking about our future here, troublesome woman! Don't get emotional on me when I'm only trying to be reasonable!...'

'I am staying!' Gaara added, but he really wasn't in power to say anymore.

'I am really sorry, Temari, but I have to do my job and he is not allowing me to do so. And there's nothing more valuable on this world for me than my medic's career.' was suddenly heard, and a face of the laboratory doctor, Kabuto Yakushi, was shown. 'Don't worry, I inserted the simplest sleeping pills liquid I could think of, he will be full fresh in no more than two hours. Please, take him away.'

'No, I'm staying!' this time Gaara added more sluggishly, still holding onto Naruto, but visibly drifting off. 'I am!... I really am... am I?...'

'Come, Naruto.' Iruka's hands were the most gentle hands Naruto could get in this bunch of low workers. Really.

Temari didn't turn around, just kept walking in her room's direction. There was that much that she had to pack, but she didn't want to talk to Shikamaru, and the least he saw him, the better for his well being. And Gaara? He could stay in the fucking floor until they came back to drag his ass somewhere.

'Gaara…?' Naruto repeated his voice small and lost as he clutched at the older boy, having to support his weight when he started falling down. This couldn't have happened just because they went out a few minutes right? Right? He looked up at Iruka, allowing the man to take him away a step, then another, just staring at him with huge, confused blue eyes.

'This is a dream?' This wasn't happening, it was just a dream.

'Wait... no...' Everything was spinning in a white, yellow, golden light. He fell. The floor was barely there, just a bit of chill against his cheek when he touched it, looking at the world from behind smaller and smaller slits his eyes were becoming. 'This is a dream?' he heard from the distance and caught a glimpse of something... someone... looking like a sunshine shaped into grotesque ball...

'Yeah...' he whispered through his dry lips 'A dream...'

He looked forward trying to remember the beautiful mirage before he woke up, so he could remind himself in the morning what kind of vision he had. Just this one thing before he woke up... And when he finally was sure that he is ready to wake up, he slept. Shikamaru stood beside him, watching how Naruto was taken away. He wasn't going to leave it like that. Even if - then not in this lifetime. Because he wasn't hunting Temari just to lose her over a job.

'Life is so troublesome!...' he said, looking with sadness at disappearing figure of Temari. 'Don't you think so?...'

Gaara didn't answer.


	5. Quinque

Sixty four days and counting. If she made it to one hundredth of days without murdering her brothers, killing herself or starting a serious, long-term relationship with the 'Smirnoff' bottle, she was going to do something nice for herself. Like a three pounds, triple chocolate cake. Something with enough calories for her to feel guilty about for a thousand years to go and gain a few dozen pounds from just staring at it for too long.

Ah, just thinking about it made her feel a little bit better. It wasn't like if she needed to watch her weight anymore. Who the hell was going to appreciate it? Not that Shikamaru had been exactly into stick-figure girls, but he would probably not have cared if she gained half a dozen pounds... Except maybe to complain about how much she weighted and for her to let him top. God, she missed the bastard. She didn't know why, but she did. Not just the sex, not just wanting to wring his neck for giving her that smug little smile, not just being able to maintain a conversation with a man that could maintain eye contact for an average of six minutes. She missed him, male chauvinism and laziness and pineapple hair. Even the fact that he cried on chick movies. And dear God, she felt so lonely.

Life was now a series of chores to overcome until the next day arrived. They'd wake up in this nice little house in the middle of nowhere, they'd fix whatever needed to be fixed at the immediate time (plumbing and roof topping that particular part), they made sure that Gaara hadn't decided to kidnap some child from a nearby settlement and decided to eviscerate him to express his artistic side and they went to sleep in still the middle-of-fucking-nowhere.

Money was still good. No leads on uncle dearest death yet, which was better, and no cable TV or newspaper, just crappy Wi-Fi internet connection to get contact with the exterior, which was the best of all, because Gaara didn't give a shit about internet, but he would watch TV if they had it. And if they did, he might find out the little white lie he'd been told regarding uncle Yashamaru. And then he would eviscerate them for recreational value.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at what she was cooking, honestly having no idea what the intended dish had been supposed to be. She had a neat pile of sliced and diced onions, but she didn't know what to do them. Some sort of sauce, probably. Not that she wanted spaghetti again, but she didn't want to cook anything else, and the onions were already there, so she just kinda pushed them on the oil, waited for them to simmer and just chunked some tomatoes on top and decided it would have to do. Then she slid down the counter, then on her side and stayed on the not-exactly-clean kitchen floor, contemplating how miserable she was and how much chocolate she was going to give herself on the hundredth day anniversary.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Nowhere. It really was the middle of nowhere. He couldn't describe it with any other word. At first he laughed at the way it was told to him, but he didn't believe it could be so far and so abandoned and that the three of them would go to such old and almost non-exiting place just to hide Gaara from the world... And yet, they did. Really, not having money must have drove them really far for them to rent a place in such a deserted house.

'I wonder if the landlord is old and grumpy or only grumpy...' He bit on the colored ending of the cigarette and continued on walking along the split and dried up street. He couldn't risk them running away from taking a car. And really, the only car that could drive so far would have to be old and really, really loud. So he decided to walk past twenty kilometers just for the mere chance for actually meeting them. He walked for the whole night and day, so he was dirty, hungry, tired and unshaved, but it didn't mean he couldn't kick some ass. Especially when it came to his woman. He didn't really expect of himself to behave like some caveman when it came to love matters, but it seemed that he was rather deep and no different from other lovesick fools he used to laugh at in his young years.

And now he was ready to fight a rival. Hell, he even started smoking again in those months even if he swore to his dignity to not ever do it again. Seven hells and triple sins - he even wanted to quit his job. And the only reason he didn't was that Neji acted like it never happened. Even if he asked for it four times. He was needed and liked too much by Hyuuga heir.  
But at least he managed to get into the front of the line when there was a request for bringing Gaara back. Naruto seriously needed it. He was dying. Not that he had to fight for it. Nobody really wanted to search for the crazy redheaded psycho. And he was probably the only one who still, after so many months of searching, was going through the simplest and the smallest things to find them and didn't regret it. Not yet, anyway. If Temari would not be too faithful...

...then things would get a little too troublesome for his own likings. But as far as he was there, he had a winning card. Or, should he say - chess piece? He walked to the front door, feeling the sand slowly making its way through his torn shoes and dirty socks. It was not closed. He could feel the terrible smell of some cooking, that was too well known for his own likings. And he thought he forgot. Heh. He crept in slowly, looking around, not trying to introduce himself. After crossing one room, he saw something like... two blonde ponytails standing on the line of a low drawer. And there was some troublesome woman sitting on the floor. Check mate.

'Crying over burned oven again? Your cooking skills still haven't got better, troublesome woman. But don't worry, I'll eat it so you won't embarrass yourself in front of other people, Temari.' he said out loud in a lazy manner, yawning. Man, was he tired... he didn't know if he could manage fighting her to get a simple hug he yearned for so long. But apparently, his caveman was not as sleepy as he was. So he just got on his knees and did this, preparing for a heavy hit on the head.

The hit never came, Temari just stared at him blankly, her mind trying to figure out what the hell was happening. A gas leak seemed like the most likely possibility. She probably was unconscious in the floor and she'd eventually be found by her younger brothers. Hopefully Kankuro, because she really wasn't looking forward to what their youngest brother might want to do to her corpse. Eating it would be the hopeful outcome.

Seconds passed and she still could feel her man trying to break some rubs by squeezing her tighter than she would normally appreciate. Something needed to be said.

'Oh God, you stink.'

'And whose fault is that' he asked backing only a little and looking at her in the eyes 'That's what you get from abandoning a man. He gets so helpless without a woman he can't even take care of himself.' Then, seeing that she had no intention on kicking him, he decided to give her cheek a passionate kiss, keeping in mind that his breath wasn't probably too fresh and a fully romantic kiss wouldn't be so romantic as they said it should be after so many months of separation. And he was not going to risk his luck of not being hit just after he obtained it.

'You really gave me a lot of trouble here.' he sighed, rubbing her back, head, back and legs, trying to remind himself of her wonderful curves and texture 'Did you really have to get away from me that far? I'm so hungry I could just eat a horse, and in this freaking nowhere I couldn't see a damn cacti in three kilometers distance. Have decency to feed me after such a task I completed, girl.'

He kissed her cheek once again, really wishing he could've washed his teeth along the way. But his water was too precious for him to use it for it.

'And then we can talk...'

Temari was still looking at him if she didn't believe in what she saw. He was wondering if his predictions about not getting hit were prejudged when the door opened and Kankuro walked in. And stopped after half of his second step.

'Holly crap.' he uttered after slow, agonizing fifteen seconds of staring at them 'Nara... Shikamaru?...'

'It's him.' was the ghastly mutter that followed his astonished whisper. 'Move, you retard or Shukaku will get angry_. Yes, I will, you retarded retard_.' Kankuro stumbled, being pushed by no one other than Gaara himself and still hadn't stopped gawking at them. Gaara just sat on the chair and laid his head on the table, muttering something unintelligent to himself. Apparently, his status could be described as 'schizophrenic'.

She stared at his hands incredulously as he, for all appearances, started feeling her up.

_Aren't you going to stop him?_ - her conscious mind asked indignantly, while her body just kind of stood there and let itself be petted and felt and groped by this man that had pretty much fucked with her mind and her life and – 'You look like a baby lumberjack.' she said, something that might eventually become a smile forming in her lips as she ignored her baby brothers and the despairing wails of her pride.

'And believe me, I have some wood to cut in the tent.' he said, smirking a bit 'But that's for later note.'

'Please, spare me the details!' could be heard, as Kankuro regained his consciousness and sat by the table only to stand up at what he heard 'And go wash yourself, I don't want you to give my sister Chlamydia!'

'Yes, of course.'

After a moment, directed by Kankuro, Shikamaru left to wash himself up.

'What now?' asked the middle sibling, looking at Temari 'We're in deep trouble, you know that, right?'

The eldest Sabaku seemed to snap out of her estrogen-induced trance and looked at her younger brother.

'Huh…? Why so?'

'Two words. Neji Hyuuga.' was Kankuro's cryptic answer 'He still works for him, remember? He may be your love-boy, but he still is concerned with our little bro over here.'

'Shut uuup.' was the long add up by the redhead 'You're making him angryyy...'

'Then go somewhere else where there aren't others having a conversation.' was his sister`s distracted reply. Oh, that`s right. Shikamaru hadn't come for her. He`d probably come for something related to Gaara and she was just the perks of the situation.

'I said SHUT UP!' Gaara's hands flashed in a moment, throwing the pan with the food on the floor and getting it splashed on almost half of the kitchen floor. He looked at it, breathing through his nose, then, like if someone has flicked off the light bulb, he simply banged his head on the desk and stayed like that.

'My, frustrated aren't he.' said Shikamaru, walking back from his short and quick shower 'And that means no food I guess...'

He sighed, uncontent, feeling how his stomach practically glued itself to his backbone. Life was so troublesome sometimes.

'And I said: go somewhere else where people aren`t talking.' the older blonde said, as if her little brother wasn't perfectly capable of tearing her throat because she sneezed on the wrong second. She turned towards Shikamaru, her eyes more alert now as she stared at him from her position in the floor. 'Why are you here?'

'Three things. One - to get my woman back to my life she left so ungraciously, leaving me off to die from regret, two, to get Gaara and three, because if I would be anywhere else, you'd be probably stuffing yourself with chocolate cake and getting round for no reason, when we could have a kid and Naruto would be probably now starring at the world from his own grave.'

The light bulb was on. Working to work.

'What?' was the alarmed mutter, that could be heard from the surface of the table. Kankuro looked at Shikamaru weirdly.

'Does that mean I have to pack our things again?' he asked.

Temari just blinked at her (lover? ex?) dazedly. 'Did you just imply I should get pregnant?'

Shikamaru looked back at her, unfazed. 'Yeah. I want two.' Gaara now was staring at them, fully alarmed.

'What?' he said, this time louder.

'Yeah, I'll go pack us.' Kankuro added, leaving the room already.

'Aren`t we a little too young for that?' Temari asked, thinking that really, twenty five and twenty three weren`t good ages to start a family, all things considered.

'If we get kids early, we will be still young when we will retire and we could live long, old and happy off our kids' money they'll manage to bring as they will be as smart as me and as fiery as you. And yes, I've heard you' this time Shikamaru turned to Gaara, looking at his furious eyes 'And you heard me right, I said: as good as dead. Naruto is very sick now and I worry that only you-'

'Bring me back to him! NOW!' Gaara obviously did listen only to what he wanted to hear.

The older blonde sighed, getting up and bunching the simple apron, tossed it on top of the mess her little brother had made.

'Well then... But Hyuuga better have something good for us in return.'

'I wouldn't count on it.' was Shikamaru's bemused answer, when he looked with a kicked-puppy face at the food on the floor. 'He is just a little pushed up the wall by the situation, that's all...'

He didn't end the sentence. Gaara yanked him by his ponytail and hissed straight at his face: 'We leave. Now.' And was already gone to take a seat in their old truck that Kankuro got somewhere in the middle of their survival out of nowhere. Because he really wasn't patient. And it will take a lot of it when they will be traveling. He didn't want to waste any if he had it so little.

He almost lashed out at Kankuro, who seemed to be lazy about their luggage and pushed, and pushed and pushed and didn't manage to seat it in.

'Can't you do it faster?' he snapped.

'It would be faster if you would help.' was the grumpy answer. He didn't even think about it. He just grabbed the baggage and kicked it in, almost doing it the same with his older brother.

'Now - drive!'

'I can't, our sister is not in yet.'

'I don't care!' And with that he pushed Kankuro, making him push the drive heel, which led them to driving fifteen meters in crazy pattern and almost topping them over.

'Holly shit, Gaara!' Kankuro yelled, when he regained his senses after knocking his forehead on the wheel 'Do you want to kill us?'

'Drive!'

Completely oblivious to her brother's rising hysteria (the past half year had practically numbed her to his more and more frequent snaps) Temari walked out of the house as she calmly donned a pink jacket.

'Gaara, the only one who knows where Naruto is Shikamaru, I doubt you'll get very far without him.' she calmly pointed out 'And you better behave if we are going to have to take a plane- I don't suppose Hyuuga-sama decided to spare a jet for ol` little us, mhh?'

The last was directed to the lazy bastard trailing behind her, who apparently had decided that being able to maintain eye contact was overrated if the fact she could feel his eyes glued to her backside was anything to go by.

'Actually, I just wanted to propose just that.' he said, tearing his eyes from her sexy bottom, only to steal quick glances back now and then 'I actually arrived by a private machine, only I had to leave it quite far away from here... ' Gods, why her hips had to sway like that? How could he forget it could? 'And we have to-'

'I don't care!' The rest was cut and quite blurred for him, since Gaara practically dragged him into the car, almost knocking him out in the process, when his head met the solid ground of the truck's floor. 'Now, drive!'

'This will be a looong journey.' murmured Kankuro and started the engine, giving Temari something between two to five seconds to fasten her seatbelts.

Temari sighed and hauled herself up -on the back. She didn`t want to be anywhere within easy reach of Gaara`s hands, he did enough yanking on his own, without needing any sort of prompt.

Life was so unfair sometimes. Kankuro watched as Temari got herself in and looked at the road before them. It was dry, cracked and full of sand. Oh, and it made them jump from time to time. Another reason why he didn't like going out from the house after all.

Gaara seating by his side was practically bouncing from nervousness. And it didn't help anything a bit, it was just worse than Gaara being silent and still (or rather 'silent hill'). He almost drove them out of the road twice when his patience was cryptically running thin. He heard how Shikamaru and Temari, between giving him directions, were practically drooling over each other.

He felt left out and so very alone on the world. And in need of some privacy, since being killed while listening to make out session was not what he wanted to see as the last thing in his life. _'I hate my_ _existence.'_ he thought after few hours, seeing a dot on the horizon. It had to be it. Or he would just stop holding a wheel and let gods do what they want to do with a truck with no driver.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Neji would have like to tell himself (if not anyone, only to himself) that what had him so desperate was that the fact of how all of this shit reflected on him. It was the first time a branch house member, nephew of the company's Ceo or not, was allowed full control of such an important …business, as to say, and he had screwed royally. And yet, all he cared about was the blond taking what felt like too little of the hospital bed.

'…why are you doing this?'

Naruto didn't answer. He had stopped talking a week ago. Before that, he would only say he was sorry. The younger boy was dying, and Neji didn't just think it was his fault, he was sure of it.

There was no reason for it, nothing that hinted at any type of disease (the blond was covered against most human ones and no one was tempering with his drugs, so he should have been his usual energetic self). But he wasn't.

Immediately after they had had to relocate –after he kicked Gaara out, his mind reminded him- Naruto had been more or less okay. If you ignored the fact he kept asking if this was a dream and if Gaara was coming back. After a month he stopped asking. He also started sleeping a lot more and gradually decreased the amount of food he ingested.

And mostly, he cried. He cried so much Neji would have done anything, paid anything to make him stop, but nothing ever did and eventually Naruto exhaust himself into another long bout of inactivity before starting to cry again. Neji had never realized how much he liked the younger blond. How much everyone liked him, until he stopped being the spazzy nuisance they had gotten so used to.

He had called psychologist, doctors, ran any test the scientists could think of, anything that could pin point what the hell was going on with the blue-eyed Kyuubi, but nothing had come up. Nothing was physically wrong with the younger boy, and yet he was dying. They had had to hook him up to an Iv a week before because he couldn't be bothered to move anymore.

Finally he'd had enough. By the twentieth time Shikamaru had come to bitch and when to his office, he'd given him a plane ticket and told him to come back with the red-haired monster or to not come back at all. He just hoped Gaara hadn't decided to kill him too.

And Gaara hoped he didn't have to do that also. He really hoped. Reeaaalllyyy. Just when Temari had to tear him off that pineapple head's throat and assure him that fifteen minutes more waiting in the... airport, or whatever that place was supposed to be (to him it looked like some kind of road for planes in the forgotten by gods spot) wouldn't change anything, but blue face of Shikamaru actually would. But he really wanted to see it blue. He wanted! So much! After hearing what kind of behavior Naruto was sporting and nobody dared to call them for so long! Blue would suit him so well for the rest of his dramatically short life, he knew it.

And Kankuro wasn't protesting, laying somewhere off and heaving his dinner in the bush. So they had a tie! He growled.

'Please, my sunshine, tell him that if I'll die here nobody would save your sweet bottoms and you will simply waver here to heaven and that walking there would actually take longer than one millisecond, as it usually is with walks.' gasped Shikamaru, barely missing the needy grasp of the redhead's hand. He promised him a walk for an hour, when it usually took a normal human three. After twenty minutes Gaara was starting to climb trees and look around to see anything that could look like their base from the further view and was so disappointed when he didn't spot one. Too disappointed.

His disappointment actually could just make him mute for the rest of his life. So he decided to act before it happened.

'Hallo?' he muttered to the private cell phone he got with himself 'Can you give me main captain to the phone? I have a report to make...'

'For you, your-'

'Hello, it's Hyuuga Neji speaking-'

'ROARRR!' Wow. Gaara could use a phone. Maybe not in the best way possible, and he couldn't control his volume too much, but hey - Neji probably heard him in the clearest way possible. But now, handing a report would be a very troublesome thing...

'…Gaara is coming,' the long-haired brunet said, closing the phone with a soft click. There was no reaction from Naruto. Neji doubted he had heard him.

Naruto had heard him, he just didn't believe it. He had told himself all of it had been a dream when Iruka-sensei had dragged him away from Gaara: he'd told himself it had been a dream for as long as he could only it wasn't a dream and Gaara's scent was no longer there and he was alone. He was going to be alone forever.

Three hours (of) freaking later...

...Gaara changed his mind. Blue wouldn't look good on Shikamaru. VIOLET would. And it almost sounded like 'violence', so he really couldn't deny himself some pleasure when he thought about it. And he wanted to try out the new image immediately. His brother looked good in violet paint, so why wouldn't Shikamaru? Because they were walking for three freaking hours.

'We are lost, aren't we.' he rasped, feeling that he could just go out of himself, sit down and watch how his true self went crazy with violet fashion.

'No, we are not.' was the calm, though very strained answer. Shikamaru really could just put up the facade. But only facade since his knees were so shaky he had to support himself over Temari. Or rather - behind Temari. Who knows why.

'Could you calm down? We're almost there.'

'So we were fifteen minutes ago.' His voice slowly changed, hoarse. 'And thirty minutes ago!' He felt his anger bubbling up. 'And one hour ago!'

'I have not puked enough, I think I see Gaara's eyes bleeding gold.'

'Let me join you in the joy of heaving then, because I see exactly the same. And that means we're-'

'NARRRUTOOO!' he roared loud enough to scare off every bird in the range of fifty meters and some people in the range of one. Or ten. Or fifty. And increasing. What could he do, little, sad, furious and alone in the jungle of unknowness?

He followed, like a big, bad, scary booboo he was.

'I think he lost his patience.'

'Thanks, captain obvious! Now, every-troublesome-of-you-RUUUN!'

#+#+#+#+#+#

Somehow they made. It. They had relocated to an abandoned base in the middle of nowhere (not as nowhere as they had been living for the past sixty four days, but pretty close) in what for all appearances looked to be an abandoned military base and somehow they had made it alive and relatively unscratched.

…except Kankuro, but only because he was the slowest of the three of them, but Gaara hadn't taken anything to keep as memories and the brunet should be happy for that. Shikamaru, on the other hand, had more or less decided that his woman could carry him around and had practically collapsed on top of her. Temari was actually considering picking him up and carrying him bridal style, but none of that really mattered, because two elevators and who knew how many meters of solid rock floor beneath the scorching heat up, they were back in oppressive atmosphere of lab life.

'I'm not going to carry you all the way there.' Temari stated, carrying her useless lover so he wouldn't fall face-first on the floor.

'Buh.' he answered wittily. What he wanted to say, he could not really remember anymore. His exhaustion took him back to kindergarten again. A is for asphyxiation, b is for to be here or on the floor...

'I demand to be paid for what I lost!' moaned Kankuro, looking in the glassy walls and seeing the lack of his precious kitty-like head cap. 'I don't love the world anymore! It became an awful place!'

'I bet I know someone who could repeat your words if he could speak.'

Entered the Hyuuga. With a massive group of welcoming party which looked so happy they had to wear black and have a very happy facade. Happy Hyuuga facade. Which was a bit like onions and vanilla cream in one.

'Where's Gaara?' asked Iruka, looking at the three of them. Shikamaru held a finger pointed at the ceiling.

'Up there.' said Kankuro with grace. Shikamaru was thankful. He didn't know if he knew such complicated words in his primary school. In which he was now, when it came to his exhausto-meter. Up there, some redhead actually sniffed up to the front door. And knocked politely, bargaining in with a mad yell.

And then he looked around. And breathed. And breathed. Yes, in, out, in, out... He was in the base. And he could smell it. The faint, eloquent scent of Naruto. He turned around and stopped caring about anything else. And he run.

'Wait, please Gaara-!' A soft, iron-steel hand press landed on his shoulder.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you.' Temari told the man with the scar across his nose, a serious expression as she pretty much gave Shikamaru a piggyback ride, so much he was hanging on her back. And of course trust Kankuro to not notice or offer to help.

'Glad to see you made it safely, Temari.' Neji said coldly, giving his employee a cursory look before deciding Shikamaru`s report would have to wait. It seriously looked like if the lazy genius would collapse on himself if he so much as breathe a little more than what was expected of him.

'Oh, I'm sure.' the blonde said, saccharine syrup dropping from her words. 'By the way, have you said hi to my baby brother? I'm sure he'd like to have a nice talk to you, once he's done reacquainting himself with Naruto.'

'The same goes for you and our FBI controllers. Though I think Gaara had known me for quite some time and you and my friends... well, not at all. Should we stay cool or curious and available for introduction?' was the composed answer of Hyuuga, who looked at her like a marble statue with a pleasant smile.

'Whaaat?...' was the suffocating question somewhere from the base of Temari's neck and her ear 'Whyyy FBIII...?'

'And why not? it's not like if they... killed someone, right?' then he looked at Temari, pointing at his own eyes 'Those see more than you would expect them to know.'

Then he turned to the group and exclaimed in a polite manner.

'Now, let's go to the monitoring room and see how our two little birds are doing.' The group started leaving.

'Temari... are we in trouble again...?' asked Kankuro, who has visibly paled.

'Yeah, are you?...' Shikamaru looked at Temari with a searching glare. That sounded too funny to be possible. And yet...

...he felt fear. He didn't know if he could handle this, if his speculations were true.

Temari shrugged innocently.

'Why would we be? On the other hand, if Hyuuga thinks anything we can do or say will stop Gaara from ripping him a new asshole, well...'

Not that it was her business in any way shape or form. Hyuuga might know it was her and he could bluff all he wanted, but there would be no solid proofs. Temari, if nothing else, was safe in the knowledge she hadn't left any loose ends. It wasn't her first job and she had the feeling it wouldn't be the last. And besides, they needed them. Neji-bastard wouldn't drop them on the FBI, but she'd let him think he could blackmail them for a little while. Just until she figured where he kept his balls so she could stomp on them for her hearts delight.

'Come on crybaby. I`m tired of dragging your ass around.'

'Mmmhh... but you feel goood.' was the delighted answer of Shikamaru, who hugged her from behind and kissed the base of her neck 'My strong woman.'

Well, yeah, he was worried like hell. It sounded too bad to his own likings, even if he knew that Neji was just playing around his scratchy side. They got only one FBI investigator and he was not the brightest bulb in the sea of laboratory bulbs. maybe he could infiltrate it later. 'Will you carry me instead?'

'Oh, eeew! Temari, don't get him near me, I think he might have a boner!' Kankuro said, and then he glued himself to the opposite wall. Aw damn. And he thought no one noticed. Well, maybe one person... But Kankuro was just too observant for his own good. He pitied him sometimes.

'Because I want a baaay-beee.' he sing-sang, making Kankuro a little more green. Pitying him of course, didn't lessen his playful nature of a hidden caveman.

'I'm not going to have sex with you if you are going to have me doing all the work.' knowing the lazy bastard he'd just lie there and have her do all the work herself. And is she couldn't tie him up for it, it was just no fun. 'Come on crybaby, I want to see what mess you did of our room.'

'What mess? You know I'm always cleaning every chess piece after our savage games...' was the playful answer. Kankuro looked after them as they vanished in the corridor, flirting with each other. And he sighed. Somewhere out there should be a kitchen. And in the kitchen Shino always was holding a big ass drawer with his liquors he didn't drink, so gods only knew why he had it there.

'After all this mess I deserve ungodly amount of alcohol.' he thought sourly. Oh yeah. He was so getting sloshed tonight.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Gaara ran. One passage, second, third... the scent wavered, got closer, vanished and get back again, but Naruto was not there. He wandered around for ten, fifteen, twenty minutes, discovering that the scent actually came from... down there, but he couldn't find the stairs. He howled in need, snarled, tried to dig a hole in the solid ground, but all in vain. And when he just came to the conclusion that blowing the whole place would be a good idea, somebody grabbed him and steered right into the small and very bright room. Which moved.

'You haven't changed at all.' he heard after sensing that there were handles to hold onto just up the wall 'So you haven't ridden elevator once out in the freedom? Where they have been keeping you, the desert?'

It was Kabuto.

'You haven't changed too.' he growled, sensing a faint smell of medicaments and trying to decipher whether Yakushi had syringes with him or not.

'That would be a draft if I did, wouldn't it.' said the grey haired man, clicking something on the control panel 'Doctors have to be steady to not lose their patient's trust.'

He glared, showing off his canines, vibrating with pure hate.

'I don't trust you.' he snarled.

'Is that so?' was a smug and cheery answer 'Ah, too bad, because I wanted to show you where is Naruto's room... apparently, you don't seem to want my help there then.'

'What?' In one moment Kabuto was pushed onto the wall and cut out of the oxygen 'Show me where he is! Now!'

'If you'll choke me... I couldn't... do that.'

He scowled. Growled. And let go.

'Behave, stupid!' suddenly, Gaara felt a smack over his red head. He jumped, showing his claws and readying himself to tear the next object that would come close to him 'I'm not afraid of you, Gaara. You're just a laboratory raccoon and I know everything about your weakness' since I've been working with you for past fifteen years. So calm down.'

Gaara continued to growl.

'I said: calm down.'

And he grabbed the redhead by the base of his neck. Gaara yelled, then went from strained to totally limp.

'There you go. Your neck is so vulnerable, I'm surprised you're not using any protection.'

'Let... go of me!...'

'Only if you promise to behave. Truce?' Gaara looked at him with hate.

'Truce?' asked Kabuto again, this time with more force, shaking the body he was holding. Gaara winced, then nodded.

Truce.


	6. Kuusi

Kabuto walked out of the elevator with a slow, patient walk, wearing a good smile of a steady doctor. Gaara cursed under is nose, while massaging the pained spot and trailed after him. They missed one passage, second... After fourth, they stopped.

'And here we are. Door number nine.' Kabuto announced happily, opening the lock with a key. He expected many things. A sleeping blond, a miserable blond, a sad blond or even a depressed blond, if not a cheery one. But what he saw was certainly not that.

The ghostly reminder of Naruto who seemed to weight nothing, laid on a bed, pale, under a IV, eyes closed, almost not moving, only a very, very tiny rise of his chest could be seen. He seemed to be even more fragile than Gaara remembered he was.

'Oh gods.' he muttered, forgetting about his sore neck and slowly closing the distance between him and the figure laying under the white covers. He seemed to be just as pale as them 'Oh my fucked up gods...'

He rarely cursed. He didn't really like doing that. But he just didn't know how to express the feeling of hurt and scare that went through his insides.

He almost tripped while stepping to the bed. His legs felt like if they were made of wood. Two pieces of non-polished logs... He was afraid he will vanish if he would just touch his face. So he went down on his knees and looked at the blond with horror, not trying to breathe too loudly to not disturb his eerie silence. Beside him, Kabuto slowly went out, closing the door, and clicking on the camera.

'Have a nice show, peeping Toms.' he whispered to no one in particular, though if the camera would transmit a voice, Neji would probably say 'Thanks.'

Naruto was aware that someone was in the room in the same way that he was aware that he was still breathing - something unimportant that would go away if he waited long enough.

In the past month he had given up. Some pivotal part of his core, something that was as much genetic manipulation as what defined his self had decided it didn't care for going on anymore. It wasn't something he had consciously thought, and when Kabuto had asked him about suicide (back when he'd still been talking) he hadn't understood what the word meant.

Naruto didn't consciously want to die; he just didn't want to feel like he did all the time. Like if someone had hollowed everything between his ribs and his hips and something old and musty had decided to crawl up and die there. He could feel the decay there, a sticky, grimy sort of dirt covering him from inside, something that dried his tears and stole his voice and made him numb- dust in his insides.

Gaara watched the fragile shape of Naruto's face. And watched. And watched. It seemed to be fading away. He didn't know, maybe he was imagining things. But it was just so... invisible. Maybe that was another dimension? He read one article about another dimension. It said that some things that belong there don't belong here. Maybe Naruto was never in this dimension to begin with? Yeah, he was being absurd. But still it felt almost like a sacred ritual when he held out his hand and touched blond's cheek. It was lukewarm. So cold in comparison of what he remembered. He stroked it, then experimentally run his hand along Naruto's hair. They felt damp and less slick than usual.

'Hey...' he called softly 'Hey, baby, wake up...'

Actually, he wanted to yell. But he was unsure if he could do that. He remembered soap bubbles someone showed him as an experiment. When he went too excited, they all faded away. And he didn't want Naruto to fade away.

Voices- a voice. Not Kabuto, or Neji or Iruka. It sounded strangely familiar, but he was finally deep enough where he could ignore those kind of things. He didn't want to come back up for more disappointment. His instincts told him to play dead, and so he didn`t move or respond.

'Naruto!...' He called him again. He rarely used his name, and when he did it usually took some response. But when it seemed to be effortless, he placed a hand over the bony shoulder and gave it a shake - not hard but not too gentle either 'Wake up! It's me!... I came back!...'

The redhead didn't know what to do. He was so uneducated in life. Another reason to hate those people in white clothes. So he dipped down and nuzzled Naruto's cheek, breathing his, now rapidly fastening breath, over Naruto's mouth and chin.

'Please it's me!... Gaara!...' He sat on the bed and grabbed Naruto's head, hugging it to his chest and stomach, curling into a ball and holding tightly, protectively. 'Naruto... don't die!... Not now!'

Because the boy really seemed to be just as good as dead. He felt bitterness. Then he felt a screeching dryness of his throat and he swallowed his thick saliva once, twice. Thrice. And the tears came like little transparent pearls, dropping on the bed quickly. Once, twice, thrice...

That scent. He knew it was nice, familiar… It was good. Something so good he ached for it. But… up there were things. Like the dust and the much he didn't want anymore. There were things safely far away, things that gleamed and hurt, and if he stayed where he was they'd never get him again. But… Warmwarmwamrwarm… It was nice.

He remembered... someone. _You would like out. I`ll take you someday._

But he`d never come back, never see him again... and besides, that had been a dream. A troubled ´myself´. Love, and all silk like. What was it...?

He felt a movement. Small, but it was there. He looked at the pale face of Naruto, trying to think of what to do. He run one palm against his left eye to remove the tears, but almost instantly he teared up again.

'Can you hear me?' he rasped in a hoarse tone. Apparently, choking on his own words was a side effect of the sudden show of tears 'Baby, don't stay in your dreamland, you'll get lost...' he muttered, rocking Naruto gently with himself as he was trying to calm himself down.

'Wake up... all this journey is meaningless if you're just gonna lay here!' he howled. Then he looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes. 'Don't do this to me. I forbid you.' he whispered a command. But it sounded like the most begging plead of all. He swallowed a tear. And another one. Then he gave out a low howl of despair. He didn't want to be violent on this rack of bones. He really didn't. But Naruto gave him no choice.

'Naruto!' he howled, grasping the blond by his arms and shaking it hardly 'I'm gonna die if you won't wake up! I can't go on without your goofy self anymore! Wake! Up!'

'Gaara.' The voice was soft, raspy from lack of use. Naruto`s eyes looked bluer than ever in his too-pale-face.

He froze and looked at the blond in disbelief. Then he hugged him tightly and started quickly kissing up along his face.

'Yes, yes, it's me, I'm Gaara, yes.' he repeated in rushed tone, feeling overly joyous and not knowing how to express it, so he just skipped around the blond's face and let his lips talk for his voice chords 'Don't fall asleep...'

Naruto made a small, whining sound in response, closing his eyes and leaning into the other`s touch.

'I was alone.'

'You're not anymore.' Gaara let out a deep sigh and merrily slowed down his doings. Now kisses were longer, more chaste and lingered in many places with their wetness. 'You won't be anymore.' _And neither will I_ - he thought, cuddling up closer and letting the happiness overwhelm him - _Gods forbid_.

It took the younger blond about two weeks to get back to his previous cheerful self, much to the instant relief of everyone who had been concerned by his well being, no one other than Hyuuga Neji topping the list. He found out about the blond's advancements by Iruka or Kabuto's informs, as he was smart enough to stay well away from the blond's quarters for as long as Gaara insisted on remaining there. Which was exactly every seconds of every minute of the day. Call him sentimental, but he liked all his organs in the places they were.

There was also the fact that he didn't want to see the blue-eyed menace either, considering he had caused him to sink into such a depression he had nearly died from it and refused to bring back what would get him better instantly out of some stupid desire to protect the younger blond from the redhead's bad influence. Not for anything stupid like jealousy or another petty sentiment like that. Hyuuga Neji didn't get jealous of the attention rabid raccoons got. Not at all.

He also hadn't ended up n the kitchen at three in the morning with every intention of getting so smashed up his overused genius brain would fall into a temporary coma. The fact Shino had found him and Kankuro surrounded by a pile of bottles and subsequently dragged them both to the showers to hopefully sober up was purely circumstantial.

Though Kankuro was so drunk he didn't even notice the cold spray at first fifteen minutes.

'I had a bad dream.' he muttered, when he finally noticed.

'I had worse.' said Neji, obviously noticing the shower and not doing anything with it.

'Yeah?... What kind of dream?...' asked the middle kid of his own family.

'That all that I thought I dreamed about happened to be suddenly real.'

Silence. Running of the water.

'I need another beer.'

#+#+#+#+#+#

Kabuto was in seventh heaven. His thoughts and suspicions came out absolutely right.

'Temari, Shikamaru, my dearly dears!' he said with a lovely smile, so typical for his work 'You're going to have a baby!'

Shikamaru stared at him. Then he looked at Temari and smiled at her with this cynical, full of pride smile.

'I'm so hap-' And he fainted.

Temari sighed, rubbing her temples. She really, really should have seen this coming. That she hadn't only proved that her man could sweet talk her into pretty much anything and admitting her own faults on the sudden new course of their relationship, she only kicked him a little on the ribs.

'Babies?' Naruto seemed ecstatic, or as ecstatic as a Naruto that was having ramen and being told someone he liked would be having a family could. Which was a lot. 'I told you smelt different, Temari-chan~'

'Yeah, yeah.' she said, looking enviously at the cup of black coffee her younger brother was nursing. 'I just didn`t expect it to happen so soon.'

Seriously, it should have taken at least a little more of trying!

#+#+#+#+#+#

'My woman is my best table.' Shikamaru boasted in the distance 'She stands everything I ask her of and she is willing to work with me even if I'm a bit too lazy...'

'Shikamaru, are you talking about sex?' asked Iruka politely.

'Of course. What else could I be talking about? It really happened so fast it only could have been her own big help in this. I couldn't have asked for a better woman!'

'Is it me, or is he beaming?' could be heard in the distance.

'Yes, he is. Like if he had dried gold in this big forehead. I can't listen to him running around like that and being so happy for another hour. He's been here for seven.'

'Shut up.' growled Gaara. They did.

Gaara got back to his coffee. Oh, he cherished the taste of the black, rich and smooth coffee. Nothing better existed. And Temari's new scent was unimaginable. If he sat close to her, he could feel like if he had mouth full of salty candies he loved so much. He couldn't believe that his sister could ever smell so good.

So he scooted closer. Only a little, so no one noticed. And looked at Naruto. Baby was there, being happy for them and well fed and almost healthy. He wanted to make him to stay in bed for longer time and cuddle but the healthier Naruto got, the less patience he had. He liked to cuddle to him, but he wanted to run around. Only when Gaara started to wrestle them around, he stayed with him, tangled in a mushy web of hands and legs. He liked that.

When he did grow so accustomed to touching the blond? He didn't even notice. He just wanted to know he was there. So every once in a while he checked. With two or three senses to be sure. So he looked at him and wanted to hear him out. Or touched and sniffed him. Or even licked.

Because if he touched him very often, he was sure of that he was there. Nothing else ever counted.

Temari sighed and laid her forehead in the table. Figures that the only thing to more or less break Shikamaru away from his pathological state of permanent indifference would be paternity. Actually, it was a big surprise. He had never expected him to want a family. Actually, she had pin pointed him as the 'Go get cigarettes and never come back' kind of guy. Which proved her man could still surprise her and that was probably the reason she put up with him in the first place. And speaking of surprises-

Naruto, who had finished his third bowl, calmly pushed the ramen away and slid under one of Gaara's arms, clinging to his chest and nuzzling under the other's chin affectionately. Apparently extended separation had made Gaara grow immensely more tolerant of touch.

'How are you feeling, Gaara?' she asked curiously. If she didn't know better, she'd say her baby brother was acting almost normal. He didn't even spare a glance at her, grasping Naruto into the greedy hug and nuzzling affectionately blond's yellow hair.

'Like if I could do him just on this table.' he murmured, ignoring his audience completely. Naruto was cushy. And warm. Almost like a teddy. Naruto blushed and squirmed against him.

'Gaaara~' he whined, supposedly sounding embarrassed, but just managing to sound delighted by the idea.

'I meant mentally. You seem much better than when we were in that house.'

'You too.' he said and stopped for a moment to look at her 'Why do you think your reason is different than mine?' Then he got back to his squirming ball of sunshine and gave him a long, sucky kiss on the mouth. When he yipped like that, he was too nice too resist.

Then he looked back at his sister and, like he always, always did, he snatched one of her small, full of nutrients, pieces of meat and bit it, only to fed it to Naruto in a moment later. The blond really needed to at least eat what he got him, Or he would feel unsatisfied. Because Naruto's skinny shadow chased him from some time now. He didn't want to repeat the experience.

'I see. You are beaming with pregnant satisfaction?' the older girl said, smirking lightly at the redhead.

'Mnnph-' Naruto swallowed what Gaara was forcing him to eat, casting the older boy a pouty look. 'He can't. Gaara doesn't like it when I want to top.' He knew. He'd tried, but if he so much as tried to push the redhead into the desired position….

Gaara growled in annoyance just at the mere thought of it. Really, like if it was ever possible he'd do that. He was the strongest alpha male that ever lived and he was not going to let such a small baby to take his position. So he usually just stopped with toying around every time Naruto wanted to change something. That was dis-sex-appealing.

'From the way it looks, it's the lazy who beams with pregnant satisfaction, not you.' he said, slipping another ball into his mouth and force-feeding it to Naruto. Temari decided not to comment on the appropriate description of the future father of her children. There were juicier topics to discuss.

'That's selfish, Gaara. You should let him before finds what you don't give him somewhere else.'

'I wouldn't leave Gaara-' Naruto started to protest, before having his mouth suddenly occupied by another piece of meat, an indignant noise escaping him.

'Gaara, enough!' he whined, giving the redhead a dirty look and then squirming out of his lap and changing places so he could rest against Temari, almost as if he were hiding behind the older girl.

'When will we see that you have a baby?' He asked, carefully patting her still flat stomach.

'Er…' Temari tried to wrap her mind around the awkwardly phrased question, not seeming to mind Naruto clinging to her.

'In seven months, three weeks, two days and five hours.' could be heard above them 'Temari, I'm stopping with cigarettes. I have to think of our baby. Could you please make it a girl? I would be so happy.' Shikamaru blabbed, completely oblivious to the fact, he was getting the ash of his 'last cigarette' falling on Naruto's head since he barely had time to smoke - because of the said blabber. Then he looked at her, stars almost shining from his eyes and liting a new galactic in this universe (and room). 'Or no, I changed my mind. Give me a boy. A little troublesome boy I will be laying around in a hammock with.' he said and kissed her soundly on a cheek 'Have I told you how beautiful you are? Hey, Naruto!' he said, ruffled blond's hair like if he didn't notice him before and went away, singing something under his nose. Gaara looked at Temari.

'Stop giving him my coffee.' he growled, hiding protectively his cup in his palms 'By the way he looks he probably drank our monthly savings in one day. He is not having any more!'

He looked at her stomach.

'Tell her to not give your stupid daddy any more of my coffee.' he said to it, like if it was the most normal thing on the world and continued to drink his black gut-kicker.

Naruto sneezed at the ash, shaking it off like a wet dog would and glaring slightly at Shikamaru.

'Sure, Shika. Anything else you might want with the baby? Make it come out speaking in French and doing the fandango or something?' she muttered under her breath, wiping her cheek and shooting him a few glares. Oooh, if she started having morning sickness she'd kill him. Better yet, she'd puke all over his shogi boards.

'I'd like to hear it speaking French.' The redhead suddenly wasn't in his spot. He was trying to sit still, all right. But all this talking about baby-baby-baby in his sister's stomach was tiring him out. He glanced at it more and more often and that was it. Baby speaking French? Something new. And besides that, he never saw a baby in another human.

So he just got under the table and gave Temari's stomach a curious glare, threatening it to do something surprising. When nothing has happened, he just crawled from under the table and faced the baby-in-belly and stared at it.

'When it will be speaking?' he asked, waiting.

'A year or two from now...' His sister said, finally giving up and accepting she was going to be the most recurred method of entertainment for the following months, unless someone else got pregnant. Absently, she reached and petted Gaara`s hair, surprised at how soft the blood red tresses really were.

He looked at the flat abs of the woman before his eyes and sighed through his nose, disappointed. Babies were not interesting beings at all. Why there was so much fuss about them? He licked absently at the hand touching him and stiffened, surprised it wasn't Naruto. It was an odd feeling. He didn't expect to obtain it.

'What are you doing?' he asked, feeling how his breath rate and heart speed grew rapidly 'Why are you touching me?'

He stopped the urge to bite at the hand and waited, still having half of his attention to the flat stomach and another half to the blond he had to see otherwise he would disappear. Temari looked surprised as well. First she willingly initiated contact with her deranged baby brother, and he didn't tear at her hand for it?

'I-I don't know. I just-… did.' Naruto, seemed interested in the conversation, just gave Gaara a faintly puzzled look, then leaned and licked Temari's hand as well.

'Pet me too!' he asked, nuzzling against her.

'Don't pet me.' said Gaara and with one swift move, he grabbed Naruto and wrapped around himself it was almost impossible to touch Naruto without touching him 'Don't pet me. I'm not a pet.' But he still sat in one place, staring at Temari's abs. 'You will be horrible parents.' he said, like if he came to the most important conclusion of his life.

Naruto yipped a bit in surprise, but let Gaara cling to him, seeing a sit usually calmed the redhead. He waited until Gaara's heartbeat slowed down to something more normal.

'Gaara, Temari knows you are her brother, not a pet.' a little of careful wriggling had the blond's torso mostly freed from the older male's grip and Naruto used the chance to pull him to his chest, cuddling him.

'Well, the baby`s screwed then, because you will be a terrible uncle!'

'Being petted is nice.' he said, carefully touching the other's scalp with his nails, scratching the red tresses gently. 'Temari-chan is good at it.' Yeah, but… she'd never dared doing it before. Hadn't even really wanted to- well, maybe once or twice. When he was out cold from drugs and whimpering as if he were in pain…

'This is all too troublesome…'

'I will be a better uncle than you could ever be a good aunt. You even start saying things like lazy. You're lazywife.' he murmured into Naruto's torso, and let himself be threaded. 'And you suck at petting.' he added, looking at her with the challenging glint in his eyes, though his eyelids were now halfway to closing since Naruto was so good at doing that...

'I would be a much better aunt that you would ever be as uncle!' she sniffed, reaching for his mug and finishing the sip or two of coffee that was on it. 'And if he's the one glowing with prideful pregnancy, I might as well be the lazy one.'

They held each other's gazes, mint green against forest green and smiling predatorily, Temari yanked his shirt up and ran her own nails (considerably less sharp than Naruto`s) down his back.

Gaara, taken by surprise, yelped, being totally yanked out of is comfortable position and he lashed at Temari, though he did that with his claws hidden. Then he scrambled away, looking at her absolutely baffled, not knowing what to think. His back tingled so... so... Awful of course and he would never, ever repeat this feeling, not a bit, not in a million of years, not even if she begged, not even if she pleaded, not even if she…

...

'What were you trying to do?' he hissed half-heartedly '...I'll kill you.' Then he looked at her stomach.

'After pregnancy.' he added.

'Gaara!' Naruto immediately reached for the redhead, holding him against his chest, afraid that he'd hurt his older sister. Temari gaped at Gaara. Not because he had leashed at her… but because he hadn't.

She still had marks of a time where she had accidentally bumped into her brother at night and he'd clawed at her what felt all the way to the bone. It hadn't, but not really by much, and she'd had to have her leg stitched. And the bastard had *known* it had been an accident then. Now she had purposely, consciously touched his back and all she got was this… pawing? A panicky look? Why would Gaara look scared of her?

Narrowing her eyes, she reached again for him, but didn't touch him, this time just leaving her hands a few inches away from him, palm up, her wrist exposed and fingers curled lightly.

He looked at it. Temari was trying to do something to him. But he knew he had a back up, since Naruto was holding him so tightly now. It looked even quite amusing since what's happened moments before. He smirked at it and extended his own hand with claws only a little extended and jokingly poked it in the mock of deep wounding attack. Then he cuddled further into Naruto and looked at her sister with mischievous glint in his eyes. She was a challenge, he knew that. She could be even quite funny when she tried so hard, like now.

'I'll bite you.' he said, still holding a glint in his eyes.

'I won`t let you hold the baby.' she replied, not moving her hand away.

'I don't need your permission to do that.' he answered calmly, still looking at her hand. 'And I'll bite your fingers off.'

'Yes you do. I`ll be its mother.' she still didn`t move her hand. 'Now you really want your nephew or niece to be left in Kankuro`s hands, unsupervised?'

'I knew it. You're a lazywife.' he said and then he slowly pushed Naruto away and closed the distance between himself and Temari's hand. 'I'll take it anyway.'

He smiled at it and took one finger between his mouth.

'I'm biting.' he said around it and added slight pressure of his teeth, not really drawing blood or even scrapping the skin.

'We'll see...' Temari said in a tone so similar only siblings could produce, and using her other hand, ran it lightly over the red tresses, sliding it down to the back of his ear and scratching lightly.

Gaara closed his eyes. Content. And he started purring. Lightly. In the meantime he added more pressure by his jaw and more. Closing it even if there was an obstacle. He wondered how long it will be since she would just tell him to stop and try to get it out of his mouth. He felt blood on his tongue.

Naruto really didn't understand Gaara. Which didn't mean he understood Temari any more than he did her younger brother, but apparently, the two of them understood each other perfectly. However… leaning slightly over the redhead, Naruto gave a small nip to the other's shoulder.

'Gaara, don't be mean to Temari!'

'Don't help me being mean.' he said moving his teeth and actually making more damage than he could have done. Then he added a little bit pressure to it. Only a little more. And waited for the reaction.

To tell the truth Temari couldn't really feel the tip of her finger anymore, not that it meant that she wouldn't in the future, but either the hormones were already working and making her act on things she wouldn't previously have or something. Because she leaned down and gave her baby brother a small kiss on the forehead.

His jaw dropped. Literally dropped. Temari's finger was free. Also, his mind went blank for a second. Or two. Or three. He was probably having eyes like saucers and must be looking just as bad as some gawking cuckoo. Then he lowered his head and slowly, gently, fell on the floor and bumped his head on her knees. He was shivering. The kiss burned his forehead.

'...e...' he whispered, grabbing her calves, feeling he was starting to even breathe shakily '...mari...' He cried with on tear. The situation was worth this simple tear. 'Temari sis...' he whispered again 'Pet me.'

He felt salty candies on his tongue again.

This was… Gaara had never, ever called her 'sis'. Not even once, not since they'd found him. He hadn't wanted to be touched either, not even if he`d felt unwell and…well-

'Are you trying to make me cry…?' the older girl said quietly, reaching down and holding the younger boy to her with one hand, the other running lightly over the red tresses. Her finger was starting to hurt now, kind of if she had caught it on a door, and she put it into her mouth. Not very hygienic, but the little red-haired bastard provably had less chances of getting sick she did. 'It's not gonna work.' she sniffed, sucking on her wounded finger without thinking much about it. 'Hormones or not.' She kissed the top of his head and nuzzled him.

He grasped her and held onto her tightly, feeling the warmth and the new scent. It was like Naruto's. Only... completely different.

'No.' he said weakly, staring into space, not really seeing anything before him, holding even tighter 'Don't cry. I'm sorry. Sorry.'

Nice feeling. Really nice. He heard humming. Steady little hummings. Louder one and quieter one. And their beat. Uni sono. Tough the second one was so weak it wasn't probably formed yet. Humming. One-two. One-two. Un-deux. Un-deux.

'The baby is speaking.' he murmured 'It speaks in French to me...'

'Really?' Naruto had moved closer, but Iruka sensei appeared from behind and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, signaling for him it was probably better to leave the siblings be for the time being, which the blond kind of understood. Temari chuckled lightly, stopping for a moment to wrap her finger in a napkin so it wouldn't ruin her shirt and then continued running her hands over his hair and his back, knowing better to get anywhere near his neck.

'It has to like you. It isn't talking with anyone else yet.'

'But I don't know French. Do you think it will understand me now?' he asked, looking at the skin of Temari's belly like if he could see what was inside 'Sorry for hurting your mom.' He looked at it some more, like if he was waiting.

'Do you think it heard me?' he asked again, staring bewildered at the point between navel and her pants. 'I hope it did. Sorry.'

Then he scurried away from her and backed to Naruto, quickly getting him back from Iruka and holding him in his hands like a big teddy he loved very much and behind which he would hide so only his eyes were visible above Naruto's shoulders.

'Sorry.' he repeated again. He was so ashamed.

'I read that babies know everything until they are born, then they forget stuff.' she said, petting the redhead a bit more, but not making any movement to stop him when he finally decided to move away. What he'd done really had been more than she would have expected in her wildest dreams. She couldn't wait to tell her lazy ass of a boyfriend about it. She inspected the wound, the blood having more or less stopped, then rewrapped it in the napkin with a shrug.

'Don't worry Gaara, I won't break so easily.' Naruto looked surprised about how Gaara was acting, but didn't really need much understanding or prompt to turn around and hold the other tight to his chest, making a happy humming sound and kissing the other. Iruka sat down in the opposite side of the table, still staring at the pair of teens across him with an amused expression. 'I know French, Gaara, I can teach you.'

Gaara looked at Iruka steadily, while Naruto messed with his hair and face. Then he quickly regained the control over the blond and held him out to let Iruka have a closer look.

'Feed him instead.' he said in a stern voice, getting Naruto's shirt up to show his ribs 'He looks like if he is starving.' And he let go of the blond, twirling on his foot and getting out of the room. He wished he could learn French. He really wished he could. But his inability to read had closed this opportunity to him. And he was ashamed too much already. He would have to be stupid to want to be put into the larger shame.

He looked into the bathroom stalls. His brother and Neji were gracefully swimming in the three centimeters pool and counting stars on invisible sky. Thanks gods, he was born as the third and the last one. At least he wasn't THAT stupid.

'I'm not hungry anymore…' the younger boy protested even though if the obsessive gleam in the older man's eyes indicated he fully agreed with him and that Naruto wouldn't be leaving unless he ingested whatever nutritional values were running wild through his head.

The older blonde gave him a compassionate pat in the head and decided to go look for her boyfriend so he would hopefully come down from cloud nine and discuss with her more important matters, such as the security breaches in the facility they planned on breaking in approximately four months.


	7. Sete

By the time Naruto managed to escape Iruka's nutritional clutches, the best of an hour had passed, and Gaara hadn't come back, which worried the blond greatly. And if there was a thing about the younger boy was that he liked sharing, so naturally, he shared his worries by asking every person he crossed paths with if they had seen Gaara.

'Ah, yes, I saw him.' said Shino, slowly adding another pin to the butterfly that flapped it's wings in dying manner 'He was going toward the terrarium's room.'

'Thanks Shino.' the blond said, climbing off the taller boy's back and slowly walking around until he caught Gaara's scent and from that spot on - following the other was extremely easy.

'Gaara?' he narrowed his eyes, pupils changing to adjust the change of light source until he could actually see around.

'Here.' Gaara was sitting in the middle of the room, extending his left hand and slowly moving it. The motion was fluid and it matched the pace of the living being that lazily walked on it, not really trying to get off or walk up to his shoulders. It probably was too tired or it had just ate, because tarantulas liked to run away in a quite stunning speed. 'Is something wrong?'

'I don't know.' The blond sat down behind the redhead, arms wrapping around his midsection so he could lean back on his chest. 'Are you sad?'

'I'm warm. I have food, a pet and you. Why should I be sad?' murmured the redhead and slowly he advanced his hand so it could show the running spider to Naruto in his closer and more detailed form 'I don't run on somebody's hand to nowhere and I'm still myself. Should I be sad?'

He petted Naruto's hair slowly, looking at the dark ceiling. Somewhere out there...

...freedom...

'I'm happy.' he said, still seeing the face of his sister and remembering the odd humming of something that didn't exist. He looked at Naruto. 'Should I not be?'

He kissed him on the mouth briefly, tasting the spicy taste of a soup. Good. Naruto have eaten.

Naruto kissed the other back, his eyes being attracted by the movements of the large insect before adjusting again on the redhead. What Gaara had said was true, but… He'd been acting odd, and acted even odder today, and… It worried him.

'You don't look happy, You looked sad. I don't want you to be sad.'

'Why do you think I'm sad?' He slowly dropped the big black spider inside its terrarium and looked at Naruto closely. His cuddly baby was sometimes like a radar. But it was better than if he was immune to whatever he felt, right? Naruto thought about the question, pulling the redhead closer and resting his chin on his shoulder. Why had he gotten the feeling Gaara was sad? It wasn't anything he'd said, because Gaara was rather weird sometimes, but…

'I just felt like if you were sad.'

Gaara sat in silence, running his tongue along his canines, gazing at Naruto with blurred vision. He thought of his inability to read. He thought of the suffocation he felt when sometimes he was trashing around the same space again and again, wanting to see something new and not still the same, same and same things again. He thought of how he was mean to his sister and how he underestimated her feelings toward him. He thought of his uncle, who was never to be seen again and family which he never had. He thought of his shame. And he stopped. All this in mere milliseconds.

'I just can't take the blood out of my mouth.' he murmured 'My sister tastes of life.' And that wasn't a taste he was particularly fond of.

'Of course she does. Temari-chan is alive.'

Yeah… Gaara liked to think complicated things too often. Reaching into his pockets, he used one hand and his teeth to peel open the shiny wrapper and got a green salty candy into his mouth, leaning down and pressing his lips against the redhead, then sliding his tongue into the other's mouth and passing the candy. He finished it by giving a lick to his lips, then a kiss.

'There. Now you taste like candy.' Honestly, he preferred the blueberry ones, but Gaara liked the salty ones better. 'I love you, Gaara. Don`t think weird things that make you sad.'

Gaara looked at Naruto for a moment, sucking on a hard candy and mulling over the words he heard. Then he turned around to grab the blonde and lick his face in a hurried up manner.

'I won't' he murmured 'I, me, you...'

He still wasn't really fond of the word 'love' so he didn't use it while talking back to confessions, but he tried to show him instead of just sitting there. After a moment whole face of Naruto smelled of candy he still had in his mouth. He stopped, looking at him, and smiled, so, oh so slightly.

'You had a candy and you didn't tell me?' He rummaged through Naruto's pants, but he found none 'What a pity.' he whispered to his ear, still smiling.

The blond thought of protesting about being showed down on his back, something that Gaara seemed exceptionally fond of doing and that frankly made him feel a little too defenseless and open to attack. But that was just instinctual, and he knew it. It was the things that they had changed on his genetic makeup making him feel things humans didn't feel anymore, and Gaara triggered most of them, that's why he didn't mind it as much when Kabuto asked him to lay down, unlike when Gaara did it.

But Gaara liked being pinned down even less than he did, and he seemed to want to prove something by doing it- that's the feeling that he got, at least. Naruto just didn't know what, exactly. That he wouldn't hurt him? That he wasn't going to oppose him? He'd never hurt Gaara, didn't the redhead know that?

'I asked Shizune for one to give you.'

Look in Gaara's eyes softened even more. He asked for a candy... for him? Nobody did it for him before. Well, maybe Temari did, as he saw it now, but it was more of a habit than of special care. And Naruto was just... so innocent. Like if he didn't knew who he was being with.

'How baby-like.' he cooed darkly to his ear and gave it a slow, chaste nibble. Even if he was calm, his heart was beating madly after such confessions. If it was possible to do it and not harm him, Gaara would just eat Naruto alive form his happiness. 'Innocent baby.' he murmured, slowly running his hand up from Naruto's pants and touching his smooth skin under the shirt. Very innocent and baby-like. And he liked corrupting this innocence.

Naruto whined and squirmed a little.

'I'm not a baby…'

Sometimes he wondered if Gaara called him that as a term of endearment… The rest of the time he was sure he actually was saying it because he considered him an actual child. And Gaara was only less than a year older than him!

'Yes, you are. Salt flavored baby.' murmured Gaara nuzzling the space between Naruto's ear and neck and slowly going down, flicking his tongue at the tender vein 'And all mine.'

His hand went up and slowly took more and more of shirt out of the way, so he could see nakedness of his torso. But he didn't care about that too much, for him they could be all covered in seven layers of clothes. As long as he could feel this heat and this smell, that was. And he loved the smell. The taste of it was nothing compared to salty candies, thought it wasn't even salty or fruity. He grabbed Naruto by cheek and slowly turned his head on the other side so he could lick up to the other ear and smell the space between the soft earlobe and the tasty skin of the neck.

'Am nooot~' Mewled the blond, ut he followed the command, baring his neck for Gaara and shivering at the fact his teeth were so close to it.

'And whiny. Very whiny.' said Gaara with a husky voice and he slowly moved his hips, matching their tender mating organs through the thin layers of clothes , rubbing them together. The feeling was so nice he purred at it soundly. 'If you're not a baby, then what are you?' he asked, slowly running his palm up and down Naruto's torso, feeling it's heat and curves. That got another sort of whiny sound from the younger male, definitely on the spectrum of encouraging. This, at least, what something he liked as much as Gaara. He'd actually been the one to initiate this type of touching, which had nearly sent Gaara running for the door, but apparently the redhead had learned to like it as much as he did…

Naruto pushed up a little, a small moan coming from his throat as he leaned up and kissed Gaara's cheek, nuzzling against the other gently. What was he to Gaara…

'…mate?'

Like Temari and Shikamaru...

'No, Naruto. A baby.' Gaara voice was stern, like if he was explaining something to five years old kid. And yet, he still grinded them together, feeling content at the pleased sounds coming from the other's mouth. And Naruto was behaving so nicely, nuzzling against him... He caught his helix between his teeth and nibbled along it

'Mates are grownups.' Like Temari and Shikamaru. He didn't particularly felt like an adult himself. Especially now, when his hand went inside Naruto's pants and stroked another blond mess he found there.

'B-but… I'm not a baby…' The blond moaned and pressed against Gaara's chest as the other started touching him in the part he liked the most, spreading his legs lightly and moving against the other's hand, his hands bunching into the other's shirt. 'Why not…? I want you to be my mate.'

'Why? it's not like if we're going to have babies or something.' He slowly stroked the manhood of blond. Naruto was fisting his shirt, but he didn't mind that. 'You look so nice when you're flushed.'

He grasped the edge of Naruto's pants and slowly took them down, revealing what he wanted to see. Yes, he liked that. Very nice. He stroked faster, kissing blond's cheek, forehead, again cheek with closed eyes.

Naruto's arms tightened around the other's back, nails digging lightly. 'B-because…!'

Because other people have done horrible things to Gaara, and Naruto didn't trust anyone else to take care of him. He didn't want Gaara to be sad or lonely anymore, he didn't want Gaara to feel like if people hated him, or to be so afraid of everything. He wanted the redhead to trust and depend on him, because he'd forever do everything in his power to protect him.

'I want you to be just mine, Gaara!'

'You're saying strange things when we're playing, cub.' The redhead laughed quietly, and licked Naruto's jaw again, not once slowing down with his stroking down there.

'You're a baby.' he hissed playfully, touching the pair of balls and fondling them lightly, just to get back to the stroking, adding even more to the tempo. 'Silly one.' he murmured and got closer to Naruto's ear, blowing his hot breath into it and carefully licking it.

'I. Belong. To no one.' he laughed a little more, and moved his palm wildly. Then he suddenly let go and sat upright, looking at the blond in front of him with a smug smile, mirth glinting in his eyes. 'I've had enough. I'm tired.' he said and got up, licking his hand of Naruto's pre-cum and sweat.

'I'm not…!' the protest died as Gaara suddenly started being much rougher than before, the harsh handling scaring and exiting him at the same time. It made him want to bite Gaara, and push him down to do more, but- The blond's eyes, now slitted and a deep purple turned towards the redhead, surprised by the fact the other had just left him like this, aroused and needy and- and… He moved to sitting position, wanting Gaara so much, wanting to do things to him…

'…Why?' the tone wasn't the pleading, whining one, wasn't submissive. 'Why not?'

'Because someday I will want to go.' Gaara said, leaning onto the wall, looking at the still tarantula inside 'And then I'll have to kill you to make you let me go.'

He noticed the change in the air and stiffed a bit, ready to respond in violent way, but not concentrating on it, since Naruto didn't make any wrong moves. He licked his palm clean.

'And I'd really hate doing that.'

Naruto cocked his head to the side, thinking about Gaara's weird answer- go where? Why would he want to go somewhere where he would have to be alone, sleep alone, live alone? That was exactly like the laboratories, experiments or not. Gaara had a family, and they had friends here… why would he want to escape it? Sometimes Naruto wanted to go out as well, felt the urge to explore but- alone?

'…Why not take me with you, instead?'

The redhead stayed still. Then he got closer to Naruto and kissed his arm, creeping closer to his ear.

'You're very immature child, baby. There's so many you should know... and yet, I hope you never will.' he whispered and slowly went out of the room. Spider twitched and stilled again.

Naruto watched him go, still wanting to chase him and pin him… But Gaara would never forgive him if he did. And he didn't want Gaara to hate him. So he let him go, and this time didn't follow after him. He didn't understand the older boy, and he wasn't sure if Gaara understood himself. A small growl escaped his throat, and he absently licked his own hand before wrapping it around himself, grinning tightly at the pleasurable feeling, he licked his teeth, feeling their pleasurable sharpness and continued what Gaara had started, small sounds of please escaping him as the sensations continued.

'… you are less than a year older than me.'

#+#+#+#+#+#

Kankuro woke up to two feelings. The bad one: he had a headache of the century. His brain knew why, but refused to tell. The good one: he felt he was laying something warm and cushy and it was actually a nice feeling. His brain didn't know why, but he could carless. The worse one: It was actually Naruto and he had to care. More. Caremore.

The worst one: Oh shit. Because when he got up startled, he slipped on his boot and fell down, seeing stars and wanting his brain to die. Because it was too livid to his own good. Painful kind of good. And Gaara was standing in the doors and looking at them. Just. Like. That.

'B-b-b-but...' he started. Gaara simply walked away. Kankuro stared. Then he scrambled on his fours and crawled to his bed. 'Naruto! Naruto, dammitmyhead!... What are you doing in my bed?... I'm gonna have my ass fried with peppers and onions!...'

Shaking the people in your bed never was less fun for him than now. Miiigraaaaiiiineeee.

Naruto gave the older boy an annoyed, half-hearted slap, trying to get back to sleep.

'That's it! First Gaara, now you!' He got on his feet and walked out of the room.

Naruto made some sort of 'shut up' noise and curled back up in the nicely smelling spot that Kankuro had just vacated. He'd gone to take a shower and instead found Neji and Kankuro nearly drowned in the showers, and after some careful fishing and requesting assistance from one of the security guards, they had managed to carry off Neji to his room – he hadn't seemed too fond of the man telling him that too much alcohol could douse the flaming torch of youth, if the choice words he'd expelled were anything to go by - leaving him to try and decide what to do with Kankuro.

The older boy had apparently decided for the both of them, by throwing up on him, which was why he was now wearing a long-sleeved black shirt that belonged to the brunet and he was down to his underwear, the only thing that had survived the experience. After changing and seeing as Kankuro seemed to be having a heart-to-heart with the toilet, Naruto quickly decided it really was better for him to spend the night considering

a) Gaara wanted to be left alone b) Kankuro would possibly die if left alone c) The things Kankuro said in between puking fest were really quite fun. d) Temari and Shika`s room was no longer an option.

All in all he'd gotten about three hours of sleep and he didn't plan on getting up anytime soon unless very good reasons presented themselves. He was angry and hurt and sad, and being sad made him sleepy.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Shikamaru was happy. Very happy. More than happy. It was morning, his woman was laying near him, she was pregnant with his beloved little princess (he changed his mind, actually he wouldn't mind another beautiful little woman running around) and he didn't even have a blink of an idea aout smoking the cigarette. He was in the middle of fondling his 'steady table's' breasts in the midst of affection, when the door burst open and a very bad looking Kankuro broke in.

'Temari, I have an animal inside my bed and I'm gonna commit suicide if you won't get him out of there.' he stated, probably because he couldn't yell.

'Commit suicide then.' he answered, annoyed, covering his wife boobs with a quilt 'Too troublesome.'

Kankuro looked at him. Then at her.

'I'm not sorry I interrupted. And I changed my mind.' he said, then he just walked to the nearest armchair and landed on it with a loud 'plop' 'In that case I'm just gonna stay there and tell you about how you should not do it. And you w i l l be sorry.'

Shikamaru groaned, laying down on his face on a pillow. Now he needed a cigarette. Or five.

Temari groaned, grabbing the blanket and pulling it over her head.

'Shika, if you kill him, I'm pretty sure we can get Gaara to dispose of the body. I'll be your alibi.'

'First thing you should not do while having sex is getting there a big, wet bag of worms. To get a worm, you get down the river and...' Kankuro started gravely, looking at Shikamaru with look that dared him to attack a man who had nothing to lose and was ready to slash throats and kick balls. Or kick throats and slash balls. He didn't know what sounded less painful.

'Fine, be my guest and do the first slash.' he answered, knowing, that if anything, pregnant women shouldn't get annoyed. And that they were better than serial killers when it came to murdering while they had their worse days.

'...and when they wiggle and crawl up around your testicles...' continued Kankuro.

Temari, without emerging from under the blankets, reached with a hand for her nightstand, rummaged inside, emerged with a .48, removed the safety and fired in the general direction of the annoying voice of hell. Oh, how she loved the small, little pencil-like snap of her brand new sound-smoother. Too bad if by the lack of screaming, she had been off the mark. She tossed the gun in Shika`s general direction.

'Your turn.'

Shikamaru looked at her with eyes wider than sailor senshi. Kankuro was nowhere to be seen.

'Have I told you I love you so much I can't love you more because there's no more room for it?' he asked. 'I was wrong.'

And attacked her. Without a gun.


	8. P'al

Kankuro was having a bad day. Bad night. Bad morning. Bad life. Bad everything. Humor too. He was barely missed. By centimeters. Luckily, his head didn't explode because of the lack of sound. Luckily, the rest too. Badluckily, his room and bed were still occupied.

'I hate you all.' he muttered and walked to his own bed, pushed Naruto roughly and when he didn't manage on pushing him down, he went to his bathroom, closed the door and screamed so loud, he actually regretted it afterwards. After taking out his frustration on himself, he grabbed the biggest bowl he could catch, filled it with icy water, went back to his room and poured it down straight on Naruto.

'Wake up, mammal.' he growled 'I have rights too, dammit. And as far as I remember, human's rights were just as good as animal's!'

Naruto woke up with an indignant yelp, scooting to the part of the bed that wasn't now drenched and glaring at the older boy.

'I'm not an animal! And you should be nicer to the person that saves you from drowning in your own vomit!' he snarled, a little more teeth showing than usual. He didn't like cold water unless he was drinking it.

'Maybe if I drowned I wouldn't have to wake up to such a morning.' replied Kankuro and tossed the bowl on the floor, grimacing when it made a loud sound. 'If you're not an animal, then what are you doing in my bed? Humans don't just go and sleep with everyone who lays his head on a pillow.'

'You are not just anyone, you are my friend!' Naruto was trying to take off Kankuro`s oversized shirt, considering it was now drenched. 'First you throw up on me and now you wet me, you are lucky I decided to stay with you so you wouldn`t die!'

'Friend, yeah, thanks, whatever. Just go to hump my brother and leave me alone, I need to lay down and repair the fact you saved my life.' he said in totally annoyed manner and sat on the floor, obviously not having strength to stand up straight anymore 'And don't bother, I have tons of those. Take it with yourself.'

Naruto growled at the other boy, walking to his dresser and rummaging until he found another similar shirt to wear, thinking that Kankuro really was more like Gaara than he thought. Which meant they both sucked. He was going to leave the older boy lying there and leave with as much noise as he could, but the brunet looked so pathetic he couldn't help coming back and pretty much hauling him on top of the bed, mostly on the still dry area. Clad in the black shirt (did Kankuro wear any other color?) he decided to go look for some pants in his rooms. Maybe continue sleeping some…

#+#+#+#+#+#

Gaara watched him leaving his miserable excuse of a brother and noticed, surprisingly, he was actually... half naked. He trailed behind him and sniffed the air, feeling it was very Kankuro'ed. Actually, a little too much for his own likings.

'You slept with him.' he said out loud, more stating the fact than asking.

Naruto turned around and nearly jumped Gaara, when he noticed that the redhead seemed... less than receptive. He nodded instead, scratching the back of his head and yawning.

'I was going to go to Iruka sensei`s room, but Kankuro was sick.'

Gaara looked at him, deadpanned, not expecting Naruto to actually agree with him. He opened his mouth once, twice, then he furrowed his nonexistent eyebrows and shut his mouth in a tight line.

''Mate' my ass.' he hissed and stomped angrily from Naruto's view. After two or three steps, he lashed angrily at the wall and left a huge mark of sharp claws. That was a little too much. The younger blond stared, not really knowing what to think.

'You are angry because I took care of your brother when he was sick?' he asked incredulously.

'Why else would I be!' the redhead growled 'Don't play stupid with me!' Then he turned around and dashed at Naruto, pinning him into the wall. 'He is here, and here, and here!' he said, pointing at the various places on Naruto's body. Neck, chest and arms. 'And what about there, pantsless?' he hissed, grabbing one of Naruto's bum cheeks 'Has he been down there too?'

Naruto kept gaping at the older boy, for some reason feeling like if he should laugh. He pushed Gaara way, almost too easily. If it came down to it, Gaara was a frail thing, really.

'So this is about sex? You think I slept with Kankuro?' he pushed him again, harder. His back smacked the opposite wall. 'I didn't, just so you know. I'm just borrowing clothes because he puked on mine.'

Gaara looked at him. Then to the left. Puked on the clothes? What? That was really an excuse he couldn't stand. But he saw Kankuro was sloshed yesterday. Maybe he did. But his sloshed brother liked to sleep around, as far as he remembered of his 'I'm-drunk-and-I-have-porno-tapes-with-me' nights on a farm. He looked at Naruto again in indecisive, annoyed kind of way. But sloshed people puked. Then he dashed to Kankuro's room.

The doors were unlocked, and his poor excuse of a brother probably was hiding all the evidences of their sex activities!- ...while puking into the toilet. He looked at him, bewildered, as Kankuro drenched out his stomach, feeling he just made a bad thing.

'What.' asked Kankuro, obviously feeling more than annoyed.

'You're sick.'

'Yes, I am.'

'And you puked.'

'Yes, I did. And I wear black clothes and like to paint my face. Any other smart questions?' His brother was obviously not being afraid of him while he was in such state. Gaara left him in silence. It wouldn't do him much good if he started discussing with him. His impatience was not longer for anyone, sick or not. There was someone else who needed his attention. He dashed back for Naruto. He hoped the blond did not move far from the spot he left him.

Naruto had, but not much. He was walking back to his room to get some pants on because being in just a shirt and his underwear wasn't very proper (and yet somehow being shirtless and with pants was perfectly acceptable). His day had started sucking, and he didn`t want to wait for the suck to catch up with him again.

Another thing to be ashamed of. When Gaara finally spotted the blond, he didn't know if he wanted to get closer or not. He wasn't guiltless here. So he stopped on his tracks and watched as Naruto walked away. Then, slowly, softly, called out for him. He was an idiot, so he saw no reason to not act like one.

Naruto stopped, turning around and staring at his... Gaara. For lack of a better term. Looking very nice and apologetic, and that little vindictive part Naruto, like most humans possessed, swelled a little with happy.

'I'm sorry.' said Gaara quietly, looking at his own toes and not knowing what else to say. People never apologized to him in more words than 'I'm sorry but it will hurt a little.' and somehow, the second part of the sentence seemed to be out of the context. He slowly walked up to Naruto and whin- whistled (Gaara's didn't whine!) to Naruto with a pleading tone.

'I'm sorry, baby.' he said again. 'Don't hate me.'

'…I don't.' Naruto reached for the redhead and pulled him close.

Gaara sighed happily, feeling more than content the fear was not hovering above him like some kind of a hawk.

'You know...' he muttered, stroking sunshine's hair '...I actually like you pantless.'

Naruto didn`t whine, yip or laugh at the comment, just continued holding the redhead loosely.

'Gaara.'

'What?'

'Do you want me to love you?'

Gaara blinked. Twice. Then he nuzzled blond hair, kissing them.

'But I-'-the word, the big bad scary word he didn't use, he didn't want to use, he was afraid to use, he couldn't use and he was not ready to use yet-

-and like with big bad scary things he didn't want, it came down to the things he couldn't turn around and had to take them face-on. He breathed into the scent and whispered.

'I do. I love you.'

The younger boy blinked, not having expected a confession. He simply wanted- needed to know if Gaara even wanted him to love him. He thought that the other did, but after last night he wasn't so sure, and when he thought about it…

…Gaara loved him? He pulled the other closer, nuzzling his neck needily.

'…then why do you want to leave me? Why do you treat me like that?'

Gaara stood there, in silence, breathing, inhaling.

'You're the most precious thing I have.' he closed his arms around Naruto even tighter. 'I can't be with you till I destroy you.'

Breath.

'I'd rather kill you than let you go to someone else.'

Breath.

'You are too sweet to know how damaged I am.'

Breath.

'I love you'

Breath.

'I love you.'

Lack of one.

'I love you.'

Somehow, it was easier to say it once he said it.

'You can be nice Gaara,' the blond said, nuzzling the other lightly. 'Just don't be scared of me. I won't hurt you. I would never hurt you, you know…?' Because Gaara really was so, so nice to him… then he pushed him away. Because he was scared of… something that Naruto didn't really understand. Love? That'd be funny. He hadn't been scared of carving it on his own head. '…so never leave me. I don't want to be without you.'

Gaara breathed again and slowly nodded. But the blond obviously didn't know what he was saying. He'll be the first to want to leave him in the future, he knew that. But all babies were like that, they just wanted to believe. So he didn't try to be the bad guy and shatter their beliefs. He just nodded.

'I won't.' he added.

#+#+#+#+#+#

The days were passing by. One by one they turned from night to morning, from morning to midday, from midday to evening and it was only a matter of time when the sun went down and night shone ominously at the face of anyone, who was covered in it. If they were, that's it. When it came to the base, it was another layer - thick as mud itself, deep ad grave itself, that covered all of them. Some of them got outside, playing average strangers and bought groceries and any other needed ingredients, like clothes or medicaments. Some of them never had a chance.

Shizune was one of a few lucky ones who did. She was responsible for the food and she had to go out to buy it. The list was always the same - bread, milk, butter, vegetables, fruits and meat, be it pork or fish. From time to time it was also sour jelly (the favorite of Shikamaru) and rarely, really rarely - candies - blueberry (Naruto), mint (Kankuro) and salt (Gaara). To get the last ones she had to venture to the animal's shop and buy special pastilles for forest's animals or buy the indifferent glucose syrup, form it into small balls and add salt to it.

But Gaara didn't really like them that way and usually he just spew them around, which made a mess nobody could stand. Usually, she didn't have to buy them if they were the only things that ended in the food shelves. But since Temari was pregnant she had to drink more yoghurt, eat more nuts and endorse herself in cabbage. Well, maybe not really, but Shikamaru was now going through next phase of a good parent - which meant he was making plans out of charts and schedules of what worked good for a baby and he wanted it to be smarter than him before it was born. Luckily, it wasn't the phase of 'I'll carry you everywhere or you'll fall on your knees and kill yourself' phase yet, so she could cross out the large amounts of nutritious drinks. For now, at least.

She had to go out to buy some more of miraculous nuts and everyone knew it. Gaara especially. He glued himself to her side and walked with her everywhere, grumbling something about suffocation and wanting her to hurry. Obviously, he wanted to be out.

'I won't let you go, you know.' she said, wearing a coat and taking her umbrella with her. It was rather rainy outside and she didn't want to catch a cold. Gaara didn't answer to her. He didn't speak to her at all. Never.

Even when she opened the door to the outside. He just pushed her aside and ran out, not even sparring her a glance once. It took her three hours to locate him. And it was all thanks to that he actually came back to her. He was trailing a pair of people, who seemed to be rather indifferent for his strange features and, after seeing her, came to her and greeted her. It took her a whole thirty seconds to recognize them. Yoshino and Shikaku Nara.

'Hello, Shizune!' said a black-haired female with a sweet smile which looked too alien on her usual vigorous face 'So good to see you! We've been trying to find you for the last three weeks! Our son told us he was working around there but didn't give us address or anything like that... and we haven't seen him for days, we wanted to see him!'

'Yeah, yeah.' added the male submissively 'Please, lead us to him.'

Gaara looked at her and shrugged.

'Couldn't find a way back.' he murmured. It was the first time he spoke directly to her. But that wasn't the scariest.

'Hey, Shizune.' she heard, when Yoshino went forward and couldn't hear what he was whispering to her 'Is Shikamaru all right? Healthy and all, I mean... he doesn't smoke anymore, is he?'

'No, not at all.' she whispered back, wondering why was he so secretive about it 'Why? Are you worried about him getting a lung cancer?'

'No. not at all, no- I mean, yes, yes of course I'm concerned about his lungs!...' said Shikaku, a little flushed 'But I have other reasons, you know... Yoshino thought- Yoshino and I' he said, coughing 'We... thought it's very important to him to not smoke because he could lit a fire and that would be bad and...' Shizune blinked.

'Huh? I don't understand.'

'He meant' chirped very happy Mrs. Nara 'That we think it's about the time our dear son got a wife and got married. He isn't getting any younger now, and knowing how lazy he is he probably would stay a bachelor until his late seventies. So we found a perfect match for him! She is quiet and smart and works at library. Her name is Shiho. A fire would be very bad in her case, very!'

Yoshino laughed. Shizune gulped. Armageddon was coming. She was sure of it. The whole world obviously was wailing for her and every other person in the underground base for what was going to happen. Seriously. Suddenly she felt a warm and touching her. It was Gaara. He looked at her and showed her a small teddy he must have stolen from somewhere.

'For a baby.' he muttered. Woohoo. So Gaara was getting fond of a baby. Gods, she really needed to hide in some closet and wait out the storm. This would be a disaster.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Temari liked to consider herself a though girl. Like most of the members of her family, what *other's* thought of her, as far as levels of caring went, was somewhere `don't give a shit` and `no, seriously. I don't give a shit`. The only opinion that really mattered was her own, with occasional concessions to her chosen life-partner where there really was no other option that to grit her teeth and admit he was right.

Which might or not end up in or him sleeping on the couch or angry make up sex, depending how close to her period she was at the moment of concessions. Either way, she considered herself the sort of Sarah Connor kind of woman, only with nicer boobs and less wimpy origins. At the age of fourteen she had left her home to try and find her youngest brother, who she had found hadn't had an accident, but been sold by her dad to a lab to be fucked around with. At age seventeen she came back to her younger brother and they both had spent the following three years delicately balancing between thieves, hit men and delivering less than savory items to less than savory employers.

Great for their pockets, bad for their reputation, and still no Gaara to be found anywhere. It wasn't until they were approached by Kakashi that they had even heard of what the Hyuugas were planning to do. Before the older man had even opened his mouth to try and blackmail them into joining, Temari offered all their combined foundings and her questionable services to the cause, in exchange of them getting her baby brother back.

At the beginning things were awful- Temari was too used to working alone, and if it weren't for Kankuro's ability to somehow settle her fiery temper, she might have murdered half the staff within the week. Which was why Neji Hyuuga, in his infinite wisdom, decided to pair her up with the future bane of her existence: Nara Shikamaru.

Nara Shikamaru was a strange boy. He did nothing, and yet the work did itself. He slept over a broken computer and it miraculously repaired itself and printed things that nobody could've written on it. That's why he was there - because things went better in his presence. The other reasons were: he was Neji's lifelong friend, a genius and a homeless lazyass, who was currently dating Yamanaka Ino, one of the richest girls in town. And that was important, because Yamanaka Inoichi was very fond of whoever the blonde liked and was doing everything for him to be comfortable. Like - paying Neji's foundation. Another reason he was there.

Nara Shikamaru himself could disagree with all this also. He wasn't just an add, he was a pillar on which things run for the most of the time. He thought quicker than anyone there. He could have worked for NASA, but he didn't, because he needed money and a house. And NASA didn't provide a house. And Neji did. It's not like he was homeless. He lived on a street and played a beggar only because he needed to smoke. And because he didn't want to go back home. Which he had. No, he wasn't poor. No, he wasn't abused. His father was all right. He didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't beat him up. It was his mother he couldn't take. She wanted him to marry to some rich girl and find a decent job. He wanted neither. After dating sixty seventh girl he didn't even like, he had enough.

He just took the last pack of cigarettes he had and went out of the house. Neji found him dying from dehydration three days later. He was even too lazy to steal. And it was supposed to be peachy, only he was made to actually work and date rich girl again, which only made him more bitter and cynical. He started hating kids, started hating his future, started to smoke even more. He lied on his back day by day, wanting to sleep through every hour and actually not really caring if the cigarette he was smoking was still lit. Life was boring.

Life was troublesome.

He could burn in his own bed and he wouldn't care. He considered running away again. He planned it out nicely. Planned even to live for a little longer to die somewhere when nobody would rescue him. No obstacles. And only an hour before he wanted to go out, Neji called him to get together witch some loudmouthed bitch that seemed to have PMS all the time and probably lived for whole her life on candies and sunshines like Ino. She obviously lacked a challenge. He didn't like it. He had enough of battling with women in his life. But he took it, because really, what were friends for.

Temari found herself being responsible for some sort of human version of sloth, with lazy eyes, pineapple head and almost three years younger than her to boot. She was something like his bodyguard if he got out and something like his personal assistant when he was inside. Which meant that most of her work consisted in kicking him into working, eating, showering and smoking his cigarettes so he wouldn't smoke them himself. She hated him. Every minute that he spent lazing around was another minute that they hadn't found Gaara yet. And then the worst that could happen to two people that couldn't stand each other happened. They matched perfectly. So incredibly, glittery awesomely that even themselves could not deny it.

Shikamaru needed someone to force him to work, and the only one who had managed to do it with a one hundred percent of success rate had been Temari. Temari needed some sort of restriction between her temper and her fists, and Shikamaru`s distracting rants seemed to do the trick quite nicely. Shikamaru was a wimp that would plan around no casualties and sneaking around as much as possible, which usually got them nowhere, and Temari was a ballsy assassin who knew when to pull the trigger and when not to. The hatred escalated when they found out they seeked each other to solve things even outside their normal routine, almost hoping either part of this duet would fail and prove them to be yet another disappointment.

It was so wrong Shikamaru couldn't take it anymore. He went to Neji.

'I can't take it anymore.' he said out loud, bursting into his office and startling him completely (he failed to notice why) 'That crazy bitch is ruining my life! I demand stop to this pair and want out!'

Neji still stared at him.

'Do you know what she is doing to me?' he shouted while pacing around and smoking a cigarette 'She breaks my routine! I can't work here! I can't smoke properly, she steals my cigarettes! How troublesome is that? She leads me through my plans! Gods! I demand a stop to this!'

Neji was still. Actually, his eyes were a little too large for his usual look and his jaw seemed dislocked, but it was probably because he agreed with him.

'She takes my plans and rearranges them!' he shouted louder, litting the second cigarette 'And you know what? We hit the damn 100% score! That's awful! How troublesome is that?'

'Guh.' replied Neji, still with the same look.

'So you see! And that's not even all!' Second cigarette was dropped onto the floor the third was lit. Shikamaru paced around.

'This isn't limited to work! She invades my private time! That troublesome woman invades my private time!' Neji sat still. Shikamaru took it for nodding. 'Yes! Exactly! I can't sleep properly because of her! And you know how I value my precious nap time! How troublesome is that?'

'Shikamaru...'

'Her big fat hips just invade my mind every time I try to sleep! Uhh, how gruesome! And that... that smile! Did you notice how does she smile? With her brow furrowing a bit, so she looks more fascinating, how tricky! Once she laughs I can't even eat what I have to eat and just follow her around. And I stare at her and stare and stare and she doesn't even notice, I'm sure she is doing it to irritate me!'

'Shikamaru.'

'And what's more…' fourth cigarette 'She matches me. My gods, MAAATCHEEES ME. My memories! You know my mother, don't you? She is just like her, only prettier, more round and blonde! How can someone be like my mother and be so good in looks and choices? How troublesome!...'

'Shikamaru!'

'What?' Fourth cigarette landed on the floor.

'Aren't you in love with her?'

'What? Of course I'm not!' shouted Shikamaru like he usually (never) did and turned around 'I knew I couldn't count on you! You're just a witty ass like always, Hyuuga!' And he left his office. Three corridors later he burst into Temari's private room, not really concerning himself if he interrupted anything he shouldn't and yelled: 'Jesus, woman! I'm in love with you and it's all your own damn fault! What will I say to Ino?'

Yeah. That's how he did it. Like a calm thoughtful master of chess he was (who was driving on cocaine and played chess on a rollercoaster, but that's a marginal add).

Temari, who was just out of the shower and was only wearing a towel on her head and a butterfly tattoo on her left shoulder blade (how the hell had anything so girly ended up permanently printed in her body?) had just smiled like some carnivorous beast.

'Nothing. Cause you don't have the balls to dump her. '

'That's right! I don't!' he said and run out of the room, closing the door with the loud 'blam'. After three seconds he burst in again (with a loud 'blam') and yelled: 'And maybe I do!' that damn woman What the hell was she thinking? It was probably a very well mastered plan that she expected him to go to Neji now and knew he would be there for seventeen minutes and that he will come to her later and that he will confess so she just took a shower and looked so sexy, so unbelievably sexy he just couldn't help but come closer and closer and so close he saw her cleavage from above and repeated: 'And maybe I do! What are you gonna do about it, huh?'

'I might start by telling you my eyes are up here.'

He tore his own eyes from her perfectly round breasts and looked at her face, feeling that if anything, that was a bad move. A very bad move. He could have know better than that, when her stare always made him just look at her and look and look and look... because really, how could a woman have such a pretty stare? His father obviously hadn't told him everything about women, that lying bastard.

She was still smiling like the Cheshire cat. If the Cheshire cat belonged to Hannibal Lecter, that is.

'Well, I'll tell you how it will go~' she had said, syrup dripping from her voice. Or maybe blood. Something sticky and hard to get off without dry cleaners, at any rate. 'You'll go tell her you are going to dump her for another woman, and then you'll chicken out.' She let herself fall backwards and sat cross-legged on her bed, the towel falling off to her shoulders and leaving messy and humid straw-blonde hair falling everywhere.

'In five, six dates, when the levels of annoyance finally passes over the levels of cowardice, you'll blurt it out at the worst absolute moment. Possibly with her parents in front for extra effect.' Her hand reached up and for some reason found his buckle. 'She'll gape, she'll glare, she'll howl and bitch… ' One button, two buttons… 'And then she'll cry, and if there is one thing a crybaby like you can't stand is a woman crying more than what you do~' lowering zipper… 'And then you'll take it back because breaking up is too troublesome~'

And then she`d done things to him. Things that were probably quite illegal in the country they had been at the time.

He never felt so used before. And he thought that men were the ones who used women but he couldn't help but love it and he knew, in all this feral complexity, that he will, yes, he will do it exactly that way. That's why he wrote a letter and never bothered to see her again. Neji was furious, but he came to his senses when they found Naruto. They didn't need extra funds anymore then and he was forgiven. Not that he cared. He just fell off a cliff and had a challenging life with just one woman beside him. That was all he could have wanted.

And that's how Temari had found herself dating a boy two years younger than her and with a mommy complex, which was so uncool and totally not Sarah Connorish (not even lieutenant Ripley-ish, and the woman ended up a lesbian!) it wasn't even funny. Of course, she had planned to dump his sorry ass as soon as something better or even more convenient happened to come around… Only even when something better or more convenient did happen around, she somehow found herself still within arm's length of the lazy bastard. Why? She had no idea, but it probably had to do with mind control. How the hell had he managed to convince her to willingly, consciously reproduce with him?

And she took it all because she was a though girl. A whipped though girl, but at least she owned the ass of that person. Or so she had though. Until this day.

'I thought your mother was dead.' she told her boyfriend. Or more accurately, the closet, where her lazy, coward, bastard of a boyfriend was hiding.

'That was wishful thinking' the closet muttered 'That's different.'

'She isn't dead.' said Gaara wisely, sitting in Temari's room and still hiding a teddy behind him. He wanted to give it to the baby, but once he reached her, she seemed to be slightly ticked off by Shizune telling her and her boyfriend that those two people were there and she didn't even notice him, since Nara decided to go inside a closet for who knows what reason. Maybe he should've done it before those two entered the room? He opened his mouth, wanting to present the toy, but was interrupted. The pair was there.

'Shikamaru? Shikamaru? Oh, excuse me. I'm Yoshino, Nara Shikamaru's mother. I was told he was here. Have you seen him?' The big male was here too. How annoying. He closed his mouth and watched closely.

'Nope.' the ponytailed female said, reaching for her little brother and giving him a slight pull to indicate they better retire. 'That`s why I`m leaving you alone in this lone, empty room. Please make yourselves comfortable.'

Gaara looked at her weirdly.

'But he is hiding in this closet.' he said quietly 'And why do we have to go? I wanted to give a present to your baby in the presence of both parents. Can't he get out of there?'

The closet groaned. The parents did not. Silence was eerie.

Temari sighed. 'Gaara, I really love you bunches when you are sweet, but you need to learn to choose timing...'

'What about the time?' Gaara asked. 'It's early. And you've both been laying bed for almost whole day.' Mr. Nara looked like if he was about to burst out laughing but he wasn't sure if he could. Mrs. Nara looked very pale.

'What?' she asked. This time her voice didn't sound as sweet as Gaara remembered. Just-Nara slowly got out of the closet.

'Hi, mom, pops.' he said, looking thoroughly defeated. Shikaku signed with a hand quiet 'hi'. Yoshino looked at Shikamaru like if she saw him for the first time in his life.

'Yeah, maybe we should go.' Temari said, really not wanting to be here and perfectly willing to leave the future father of her future children for the wolves.

Shikamaru looked at her with a totally offended grimace.

'Yeah, sure, go, leave me here.' he said under his nose. Gaara hopped from the armchair and followed Temari. And there was a laugh. Laugh of a woman.

'Oh no, no, no, no.' could be heard between the giggles 'This is not happening.'

'Whatever you say.' said Shikamaru, slowly getting his hands inside his pockets and looking at the floor. 'Those are the facts.'

'Facts? What facts? You're marrying Shiho and that's final. You can't go and just have a baby with some girl who doesn't look like she can afford food on her own!' Shikamaru's look darkened, but he didn't say anything.

That stopped the blonde, slowly turning towards her boyfriend and his parents.

'...Excuse me? Lady, I'll have you know I was rolling in dough before I met your son!' Which wasn't a lie at all, even if her losing the money was solely to the red head next to her and not to the older boy. Not that Gaara had the fault or deserved to be burdened with it. 'And you!' she glared at the pineapple head. 'Didn't you forget anything important in that closet? Like our spine! Or balls? Are you just gonna let your mother tell you what to do?'

'Yes, I'm gonna let my mother tell me what to do.' he answered, still looking at the floor 'Then I'm gonna answer her. Calm down, you're disturbing the baby.'

'It's crying.' Gaara said quietly, looking at her in unease. Shikaku looked at her calmly.

'If he is an adult, he'll do as he pleases. If not, then we won't let him.'

'Shikaku!' Yoshino disagreed. Shikaku ignored her.

'Well?' he asked. Shikamaru looked at him with the same bored look.

'How troublesome. Is that Shiho prettier than her?' he asked in thoughtful tone.

'You are disturbing me!' Temari distractedly pulled her brother closer to her stomach, evenly distributing glares between the younger boy and his mother... 'Sing him a song or something.'

'It's him?' asked Gaara. Then he looked at her belly in even more unease 'I can't sing.'

'Yes, she is prettier. Much prettier.'

'Really?' said Shikamaru, tearing his gaze from Temari and leaning back on the closet 'How much prettier?' Gaara grimaced. The baby was stressing out more and more. He really couldn't take it. He started purring.

'She is thinner. And has a proper hairstyle. And doesn't lie. You share interests, she is a librarian.' said his mother. Shikamaru chew on his lower lip.

'Does she hit people with a fan?' His question was even more thoughtful.

'What? No.' his mother was puzzled 'What kind of question is that?'

'Cause she does.'

'You're abusing my son?'

'When I deserve it, that is. Does she yell at people? Does she run away from them?' Naras looked at themselves quietly disturbed.

'I... I suppose not.' Shikamaru smirked.

'I like that.' he said, and slowly stood up, getting closer to his parents 'I really do. Not troublesome at all.' Yoshino smiled. Victory was hers. Shikaku seemed to be disappointed. Gaara slowly stroked Temari's belly. He felt helpless, just like when Naruto was crying around him. He really hated the situation.

The older girl took the insults in with a stride, just staring at the older female and looking remarkably unimpressed. Her hand stroked her brother's hair lightly. Bitchy. That was the missing adjective. Crybaby, lazy ass, and a bitchy bastard to boot. Why did he think women were troublesome? Because he acted exactly like one! Oh, she should have known he would rub all of this on her face. It was just so typical, only he liked to wait for the time where she stopped even remembering those things, then drop them on her lap and rub extra hard.

'I left because I was kicked out of here, not because I wanted to.' she said, her tone deceivingly smooth. 'But if you like that chick so much, you might as well marry her. Hell, she sounds so good *I* would.'

'You would? Naw, that hurts my opinion about your future wedded one standards, she is only good enough to LIKE her.' he said, smiling to his mother lightly. Yoshino froze in her mimics. 'And you know it's all the opposite of her I LOVE.' Shikaku snorted, chuckling lightly and looking at his son with amazement. 'But I guess it's all set, so there's not much choice.' he drawled in a lazy tone, looking at his nails this time 'Right, dad?'

'Right.' nodded Shikaku, still smiling 'All invitation's had been sent. It will be very tiresome to call it off now.'

'Awz, how troublesome. But, oh well, I'm a good son after all, I have respect for my parents' work' he turned himself to Temari, smiling at her lazily 'And it's even for free. So, what do you think, troublesome woman? Will you marry me?'

Temari smirked back. 'Oh, I don`t know. The bookworm still sounds more promising than you, are you sure I can`t try it with her instead?

'I don't want you to marry a worm.' said Gaara darkly and punched her tight as lightly as he could 'I disagree.'

Shikamaru chuckled lightly.

'Your brother disagrees. Who am I to oppose? I'm just a mere boyfriend here.'

'So you`d rather me to marry a deer instead...?' she asked playfully, mussing his hair.

'Why not?' he answered, then licked her hand, hugging closer to her tummy 'You look like a doe around him.' Shikaku held his hands up in a defensive stance.

'I give up' he said and burst out laughing. Yoshino obviously forgot how to speak, because for the whole time she just stood there, mute as chair beside her.

'Oh, yes, I feel just like Bambi.' She stroked his hair lightly. 'Well, as it's settled, I suppose I will have you try and make an honest woman out of me.' Oh, and just the thought of the paperwork Neji would have to go through to assure her a new, safe identity made her all warm and fuzzy in her insides- that certainly couldn't be this half-assed proposition the little bastard had probably been planning inside that closet.

No, it was just the thought of the pain that blind-eyed Hyuuga ass would have go through. Mountains of paperwork indeed, all for a for a marriage ceremony that for all appearances had sent her mother-in-law in a coma. Oh, when had her life turned so good and fluffy and pink?

Yoshino's freeze has melted.

'I will not have that!-' she started.

'Why not?' asked Gaara.

'Because this- this- this excuse of a woman is not appropriate for my son as a wife!' she whizzed through her teeth 'I swear, come closer to my son and I will kill you!'

'Then I will kill you.' said Gaara, still looking with interest at Temari's belly. Yoshino snorted.

'Don't be funny, kid. Like if you ever could- OH GODS!' Gaara's paw was much quicker and much too closer for her to even register it didn't do any harm to her, only came really, really close. 'My face! My beautiful face!'

'It's destroyed.' agreed Shikamaru, making his petrified father start chuckling again 'Gaara, don't be mean. She is a family to be to you.'

'She is a piece of meat.' he said, then looked around 'I'll kill her.' Then he came closer to Temari and stared in awe at her belly again. 'Can I give it a present now?' he asked.

'Don't do that Gaara, she's gonna be the grandmother to your nephew or niece.' She gave the older woman a thoughtful look. '…And who knows where she's been.'

She didn't want her poor baby brother eating transgenic meat or weird things. But maybe it would mean even more paperwork for Neji, so…

'Hmm? Oh, that's right, you got a present?' When had Gaara gotten so sweet? She didn't remember this much positive interest since… well, Naruto. And it hadn't been this obvious. 'Wanting to get first row on present giving?...Where did you get it anyway?'

'Outside.' he said truthfully and handed her a little teddy 'It was more interesting than things that lay here.' And it was freshly new. Like just-taken-from-the-shop-shelf-new. 'Does it like it?' he asked with hope, staring at Temari's belly like if there really was a child and not her... well, belly. Shikamaru perked up at Gaara and looked at the thing Gaara held out to Temari.

'Outside?' he asked, coming closer to her 'You've been outside?'

Gaara didn't answer but he didn't have to. The thing was still a little wet and it was raining outside. It had to be practically leaking with bacteria. He snatched it from his hands before Temari could touch it. 'I'll take that to a laundry.' Gaara looked at him, then growled warningly. Then snatched it back.

'For Temari.' he said darkly 'Not you.' and he handed it to her again.

'Do it again and I'll tell Neji you sneaked out again.' he said and took the teddy out of his hands again 'And you can't give it to her like that. It's filthy. You'll make her sick.'

'I'm not sick!' he hissed, then got the teddy back 'I wasn't alone. Sis...'

Snatch.

'Laundry.' said Shikamaru and turned to walk away. Gaara looked at Temari, then at him and whined. Shikamaru's parents looked at him with disbelief.

'What's wrong with him?' asked Shikaku, not really believing what he saw. 'He is acting like a dog.'

'He was raised in the wilderness.' Temari said, mostly ignoring them and giving the younger redhead a one armed hug as she used her free one to snatch the teddy from her husband-to-be hands. 'And don't exaggerate, Shika, you can give it a wash after I'm done seeing it.'

Pulling the toy, she hugged it to her chest as she pulled the redhead along. It wasn't that she didn't understand what they were asking, but it didn't stop it for being excessively irritating for her. Trust lazy`s parents not to have any tact.

'Come on, we can show it to Naruto too.'

'You will be siiick!' This time Shikamaru whined. But after he saw that Temari actually took it and hugged it, there was nothing he could do now. He had to get ready to carry her on his hands in case she went deadly ill. Gaara nodded and looked at Shikaku with impassive face.

'I'll kill him too.' he said and sniffed the air. Naruto was not far away. Though, he wondered why his baby would want to see the toy. It was Temari's kid's thing. What if Naruto will want to take it? He didn't have another one for both of them...

'I won't, stop being a crybaby. ' She pushed him away so he would stop hovering over her as if she were to keel over any time soon from unknown diseases. 'And Gaara, no killing family, the baby wouldn't like that.'

So annoying…


	9. Nove

Naruto was fascinated by the toy, considering he'd never seen one, except in books. He sniffed it, licked it, poked it some more and then promptly returned it to Temari (or more accurately deposited it on her stomach) and moved so he could pull Gaara closer.

'It's so nice and soft, Gaara, did the baby tell you it liked it?' he said, cuddling the redhead.

'It cried a lot.' he said, looking at the toy slowly getting up and falling down with every breath Temari took 'Then it went to sleep. I don't know. Maybe it doesn't know it's there.' Because babies were innocent, naive and pretty blind to many things. Maybe this one was literally blind?

'It can't see.' he said out loud.

'Well, it makes sense, it's inside Temari, it must be dark…' Naruto rested his chin on the redheads shoulder. 'Why did it cry, were you mean to it?'

Temari was looking at this as training. Yeah. For the kids. Because that's what his baby brother and his baby brother's blond baby acted like. Kids. Annoying kids. On sugared crack. That's why she was lying on their bed, half asleep and doing all her sanity allowed her to block most of the weird things they asked. Because that's what she was going to do when she had her own kid. Ignore it and pray for sanity.

'The baby will see it in another half a year, Gaara, don't worry, I'm sure it'll like it, but for now it's happy you gave it its first gift. Trust me, I know it is.'

'Half a year?' asked Gaara and then thought a little 'Okay. I'll bring it more presents so it can see after six months.' He started planning it already. For example - this tarantula in terrarium. If he squeezed it a little and made it wear a nice ribbon, just like this teddy, it would be probably just as pretty. 'And I wasn't mean to it. Lazy's parents were annoying it. I will almost kill them.'

Yeah, since he couldn't kill, at least he could almost make it.

'There's no hurry, Gaara.' the older blonde said sleepily. 'The baby will only be able to focus on what it sees a little later. Why don't you ask Shizune to explain it to you?' she asked, completely unaware that her brother had already tortured the dark-haired nurse enough as it was.

'What were they doing?' Naruto asked, his hands stroking Gaara's chest lightly.

'Nothing. And Gaara won't hurt them. The baby would really hate her grandparents get hurt.'

'So It's gonna be a girl?' the blond looked at the older girl's stomach curiously. Temari hugged the teddy and curled on her side.

'Shika wants a girl…'

'So you won't love her if she ends up a boy?' now the blond seemed horrified by the idea.

'Then I- we? will take him.' said Gaara quietly, looking at Naruto 'And I won't hurt them.' he added, even if the idea didn't seem pleasant. But if it was baby's wish, he had to obey.

'What? No, no-' Temari woke up a little, better to squash weird ideas from her brother's mind, especially when Naruto seemed so delighted by them. 'We'll love any baby we get, girl or boy, promise. You don't need to take it, you can just… baby-sit.' Sure. She just needed to get a straightjacket for Shikamaru. 'It was just a comment. I wouldn't mind either…' she relaxed back on the bed, her hand idly stroking her stomach. '…what would you guys want? A girl or a boy?'

Gaara looked at her belly, then her face with his usual, stoic face. 'Twins.'

The older girl laughed, covering her face with her hands.

'That's cheating Gaara. You can't decide with just one of each-' She trailed off, a thoughtful look on her face before groaning, covering it with her hand. 'Actually, we might just get twins. Mother was a twin, so I have an increased chance to have a pair over the average, joy.' A sigh. '…but if I were not to have twins, what would you guys like?' Naruto thought about it, resting his chin on the edge of the bed.

'A girl. Girls smell nicer.' Not as nice as Gaara did, but still nicer than the other males…

Gaara looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he remembered something and smiled, just a little.

'An angel.' he said. Once Iruka tried to convert them into christianity and gave up after he stubbornly wanted to know why Jesus hadn't just killed every sinner that he didn't like. In-between he mentioned people with wings, who, as he said, hadn't got sex. And he never saw anyone like that.

'Heh. Don`t I wish something like that, myself...' An angel that wouldn`t chew on her nipples, wake her up every half an hour, oh, that sounded so nice...

'That`s cheating...' the younger blond protested, giving Temari`s stomach a small pat. The older girl patted his hand in return.

'Okay, baby and I need a nap. Why don`t you go make sure Shika`s mom didn`t kill him and that Kankuro isn`t drinking paint thinner or something?'

'Kankuro is too stupid to do that.' But he took Naruto's hand and gestured 'shshsh', while he took him out of the room. Once the door closed, two screaming voices could be heard. Obviously, Neji had enough of an excited mother and decided to shut her down. Which didn't really help, since Shikamaru still disagreed to what she wanted to force onto him.

Naruto startled a bit at the loud noise and then just curled his hand around the other.

'...What was your mother like, Gaara?'

Gaara looked at Naruto, surprised by the question. He walked for a moment in silence, and answered: 'She was very warm and soft.' Another moment of silence. Answering this question obviously was hard for him. 'And she smelled very sweet when she baked baklava.' He thought for a few more seconds. 'On the other times she smelt of a graveyard.'

The younger boy looked at the other questioningly. He didn`t have a mother, he`d been born in an artificial womb, something that sounded so creepy and scary he didn`t want to think about it at all. He was a person. A person without a mother, and Gaara was...

'...I`m sure you smell nicer than her anyway.' He nuzzled against the other`s neck, licking it. 'You smell nicer than anyone.'

Gaara didn't answer that. He didn't really believe Naruto anyway, because he knew his own smell too much and it was just average good. He smelt nicer than cigarettes or Kankuro's paint, but he wouldn't want to smell himself all the time if it wasn't for nose getting numb after mere minutes of getting around it. He thought it wasn't very agreeable, because he found his baby's smell a lot nicer. And very addictive. He gave out a short purr and closed his eyes for a brief second, only to grab Naruto and hold him in a tight hug. The smell was intoxicating. He loved nuzzling blond hair. Very much.

'I like your smell better.' he said softly, accidentally getting a few of blond hair inside his mouth and licking it, tasting it's smell 'You have a special flavor.'

The younger boy made a happy sound and cuddled closer, completely ignoring the sound of the shouting not that far away from them.

'I'm not going to force him to do anything! I'm his boss, not his mother! And anyway, he is an adult, you can't legally force him do anything he doesn't want-!'

'That's because I'm happy. You smell nicer when you are happy, too.' His hands trailed under Gaara's shirt and ran the nails gently over the soft expanse of skin, nuzzling the other lightly. 'You smell happier, lately.'

'Because there's gonna be a second baby here.' he murmured, then licked Naruto's forehead 'And I like babies.' His hands slowly roamed up and down the blond's back and stroked his spine in a lazy, good mattered manner.

'Adult or not, he is still my son and your subordinate!' could be heard from the distance 'And I'm not having my only kid married to some girl you can't even clearly say who she is!'

'Is it important?...' was Shikamaru's tired interruption.

'Yes! It IS! Shikaku, stop ignoring the dispute!'

'I just don't see anything valuable I could add in, seriously...'

'Such a great husband you are, as always!'

Gaara grimaced. 'Maybe we should go somewhere else.' he said. Naruto nodded, nuzzling further into the redhead`s neck.

'Shikamaru seems alive enough, let`s go check on Kankuro...' the blond thought about it for a second, then slowly let go of the redhead, still holding his hand. 'Gaara, Kankuro drinks too much.'

The redhead was disappointed when Naruto let go of him. He really liked staying in this position and just drinking up the whole smell and taste that Naruto had to offer. He slowly run his hand along the blond's arm and got closer.

'So?'

'It`s not good for him.' without noticing, the younger boy moved a hand to pull Gaara closer.

Gaara got closer. So close he could actually breathe into Naruto's ear.

'So?' he asked, getting a hold on his back again.

'He is your brother. The only one you have.' He shivered a little when Gaara got too close, quickly leaning and licking his neck again.

Gaara stiffed for a moment, then he moved Naruto's face with gentleness, so he could lick his mouth and prevent him from licking his neck at the same time.

'He is a piece of meat.' he murmured.

Naruto stared at him unhappily and leaning in, giving the redhead a soft kiss in return.

'He is yours. You should take care of him, because he is too stupid to take care of himself, or something.'

Gaara sighed happily into the kiss and took another one. 'He can die for all I care.'

'And why don`t you care for him?' the younger boy asked curiously, kissing the other back, then leaning to kiss his neck, because that`s where Gaara smelt the best, his nails ranking lightly up his side.

'Because I don't care for everyone and he is as good as anyone.' Gaara said patiently and again, moved Naruto's head on the side, so he could nibble on his earlobe and lick along it. 'Stop touching my neck.'

Naruto whined pleadingly. 'But you smell so nice…'

Gaara huffed and opened his mouth, so all his canines and sharp teeth could be visible and closed over Naruto's neck at the dangerous point of his artery. He stayed like that for a moment, scrapping it lightly in unpleasant way and then backed down.

'And how does it feel when somebody is about to bit through your neck? Stop touching mine.'

Naruto stayed still until Gaara let go, then reached up to pull the older boy flush against him, pinning his arms in a tight hug and leaning to press his mouth in a kiss.

'I`d never bite you to hurt you, Gaara.' he gave him another kiss and let go of the other, one hand brushing down his arm to grasp his hand and pull him along. The redhead licked his lips, still feeling a taste of their kiss on them. Yes, he probably never would. He was just an innocent baby after all. But still, he couldn't fight off the little unease...

'Where are we going?' he asked, following Naruto obediently.

'Temari-chan told us to check on Kankuro... And he`s not anyone, he`s your brother.' he tightened his hand. 'You should take a bit more of care of him, Gaara, if he got sick Temari-chan would be sad. And your mom... And I would be sad... And probably the baby too.' A lot of sad people... A real whole lot of them.

'If we will interrupt him, Kankuro will be sad.' said Gaara with a smart add of cynics in his voice. And indeed, he was. Laying on the floor, drinking on his beer-for-headache and listening to some music that made walls dance and ceiling shake. Indeed, he looked sad. Pathetically sad.

'He´ll be happier when he stops drinking and realizes it`s bad.' Ball of sunshine winced and put the volume of the music down, plopping down next to the older boy and leaning so he was on his field of vision. 'Why are you sad?'

'Because you turned the music down.' answered Kankuro gravely and took a sip of his beer 'And my head is giving me the pain of my life. What are you doing here again?' He turned his head to the side. 'With him?'

Naruto made a face and took the beer away.

'You drink too much, that`s why your head hurts. And because the music was too loud. And you looked sad before we got in here. You look sad since I`ve known you.' He didn`t bother answering the question regarding Gaara`s current location. 'Kankuro, please stop drinking.'

'Please, bunny - or, whatever animal were you supposed to be, please, give me that back.' Kankuro muttered and ruffled Naruto's hair, extending his other hand for a can 'Temari has his boyfriend, Gaara has his teddy and I have beer. I will be even more sad without it. Don't take it away.'

'I don't have a teddy anymore.' Gaara pointed out.

'Then this blond squirt. My beer, Naruto. Give it back.'

Naruto leaned into the touch happily, his hand still keeping the beer away. 'So you are sad because you don`t have a mate? You should get one of your own, that way you won`t be sad.'

'I don't care about such things. I just want my beer.' said Kankuro tiredly, and lunged for it, snatching it away from Naruto 'Why did you two came here? To bother my existence?' Gaara just shrugged. He wasn't planning on checking this piece of meat today. Or tomorrow. Or any day at all.

Naruto took it back without effort.

'No, because you are always sick because you drink too much and you are miserable because you drink too much, so you need to stop being miserable, so you need to stop drinking.' He sniffed the bottle and made a face, then tossed it to the bathroom, where it landed flawlessly on the toilet with a loud, wet GLOP. 'Temari-chan worries about you too. I worry. Stop drinking.'

'Now look what you've done, you... oh, I give up.' said Kankuro. Then he looked at Naruto. Temari was worried? 'She told you that?' he asked, slowly running a palm along his face, making his paint smear all over. Naruto nodded, looking at the older boy seriously.

'She told us to come check on you.'

He looked at Naruto with indifferent face, so similar to what Gaara did in the most of his time.

'If Temari says so.' he said, then shrugged 'Then okay, I won't drink anymore. Take it.' The packet of six canned beers was tossed at Naruto with a loud 'blub'. The younger boy caught it easily, then smiled widely at the brunette.

'And a mate? Are you going to get one?'

'Yeah, sure. I'll look around.' he said casually and flopped down on his bed, looking at the ceiling 'A beautiful girl with flying uterus or a boy with no feet. We'll see whom I'll meet first.'

Naruto went to the bathroom and methodically started flushing the beer down, dropping the empty cans in the trash bin next to it.

'You should try it with Kiba, he likes you.'

'Well, I don't like him.' said Kankuro and turned his face to the wall 'And stop being so loud with those cans, it's making my headache worse!'

Naruto stared at the older boy, then at the trash bin. After which he gave the thing a loud, happy kick which made all of its contents clash with as much noise as possible.

'Sorry!' Well, mission accomplished. 'Gaara, Kankuro promised not to drink anymore, so we have to help. If you see him drinking again, hurt him a lot.'

Kankuro looked at Gaara. Then Kankuro got back to starring at the wall and Gaara shrugged.

'Okay.' he said in a monotone voice.

Practically bouncing with happy, the younger boy went back to the redhead, giving him a nice, wet kiss for being so nice to his brother. 'Love you, Gaara!'

Gaara didn't kiss back. He just looked down at him with somewhat of a pity in his eyes and went out of the room. 'You're such a baby.' he said, while leaning on the wall.

Naruto looked surprised at the action, and spent a moment looking at the room, as if wondering what in it could have made Gaara act like that, then having concluded that nothing in it save for him could have been, followed the older boy out, standing in front of him. 'What's happened...?'

'And because you don't know, you're still a baby.' Gaara said, looking at the wall right before him. Near them, the door were closed with a click, then the mind-blasting music was turned on again. After a few seconds the tingling of a bouncing glass could be heard and unscrewing of a new bottle. Kankuro was obviously drinking again. And this time it wasn't a beer.

'Come on, get in.' said Gaara, crossing his arms and looking at Naruto 'Ask him again, threaten him. He'll probably be sloshed before the next sunrise.'

Naruto looked at the door, then back at Gaara, an unusually serious expression on his face.

'...I`m not a baby, Gaara.' he said softly, reaching up with a hand and gently pressing it against the other`s cheek. After a second or two he moved away, retreating towards other corridors.

Gaara looked at retreating Naruto, confusion clearly written on his face.

'Where are you going?' he asked, standing up straight 'Hey! Cub!'

Because really, what the hell? It didn't have to do with anything. Why Naruto did that? He didn't get it. So he run up to him and caught him, to stop him from going any further. 'What was that supposed to be?' he asked, still confused.

'Hmm?' The blond boy turned towards the redhead, looking as confused as he did. 'What?'

'Why did you get away from me?' he asked, feeling his confusion reaching the creep level. What did he mean by 'what'?

Naruto blinked at the other surprised, then pulled Gaara into a hug, nuzzling him. 'I`m just getting away from there. Kankuro makes me sad.'

'He is sad.' Gaara muttered and kissed Naruto's chin 'Don't do that again.'

'I`m sorry. It wasn`t you.' Naruto leaned a little and kissed Gaara. 'I just need to think up something to fix him.'

'Want me to go with you?' asked Gaara and bit his tongue. When did he become so attached? It was usually the other way around when it came to following.

Naruto didn`t seem to notice, nuzzling the redhead affectionately. 'If you want to come with me, then yes. Maybe you can help?'

'If I can.' Though he'd more likely stay here and kiss the blond till he'd start suffering from asphyxiation. Or something like that. But he really had no idea how to help his depraved brother nor did he really want to. Kankuro was a thing that hadn't mattered to him in any way and only a thin line of understatement of not getting under each other's skin when it came to their addictions helped him to survive so long under Gaara's death glare. Because, really, he was a burden. He couldn't even afford a challenge, like his sister did. And he didn't have a baby like his sister or he wasn't talking to him like his sister or anything. He just sat, drank and sobered and then drank again.

The dog boy that showed an interest in him was constantly shoved away and he didn't seem to change anything in Kankuro's behavior. Meat.

Naruto was a very innocent person, and that much was true. He was an incredibly kind and loving being, and no one could deny that. He was headstrong, stubborn and utterly optimistic, which anyone who spent over three seconds with him could see. And he was a natural blond, which was something most people, for some reason, kept forgetting.


	10. Deg

Neji was happy. It had nothing to do with the fact Naruto had been extra clingy on him and that Gaara had been glaring extra murderously at him. Not at all. Which wasn't the reason why Kankuro was on his office at 7 A.M., facing his boss, Kabuto, Kiba and Shikamaru. Actually… no, wait… It was. Silly him.

'At this rate, your liver is going to fail somewhere between this year and the next.' he said, taking a bored look at the medical reports he had requested after some very pleasant days of beseeching from his (secretly) favorite foxy blond. 'Then you are either going to die or we'll have to get you a replacement for it. And considering how little you have been working… or contributing in anything, even cleaning after yourself, that's not likely at all. You know too much, so you can't be let outside anymore because I don't trust you without Temari, and from what I understand, your sister isn't going anywhere anytime soon…'

He gave his old friend a curious glance, as if he didn't know Shikamaru was too busy playing prenatal daddy of the year to let his sparkly future wife within walking distance of him, God forbid he actually had to run for it. '…you've just become a big waste of time and money, Kankuro.'

Kankuro just stood there, looking at the floor, like if he didn't hear a word of what was said to him.

'Yeah, whatever.' he said finally, shrugging and shoving his hands in his pockets nonchalantly 'Anything else you want me to know?'

Shikamaru grimaced at Neji, facepalming himself and mouthing quietly 'Brilliant, genius.'

Seriously, for a witty ass that Neji used to be, sometimes he just worked... too well for his own good. Kankuro obviously drank because he had problems. And now he seemed to be at the point of not caring for anything. Even his liver. So he was clearly suicidal, and really, it was just brilliant of Neji to show Kankuro he just came out as a big waste of time and money. Brilliant. Why not give him a rope and stool instead? It would save them all the time and effort. And he had to actually repair everything that was done now. How troublesome.

'But if you'll stop drinking and actually start doing something-'

'Yeah, whatever.' Kankuro cut him off. So it was actually worse than it looked. Great.

Neji really was being too happy for his own good. One could almost say he was almost smiling. If Hyuugas were physically capable of smiling, that is.

'Good, we agree then. Starting from today, you are not drinking anymore. You will be having disintoxication treatment, see Kabuto when scheduled and are to remain at all time sunder security surveillance, mostly Inuzuka and Aburame. You have an interview with a therapist in two hours, so please go with Inuzuka to your room and get rid of all the alcohol there. Your dog can find the rest of it, right…?' he asked, staring at the fluffy ball peeking its head from the front of the brunet's parka.

'I'm gonna die.' said simply Kankuro and looked at the white ball - ball he so wanted to kick right now. Gods, those people were so unreasonable. What did this Neji-pretty-prince-on-a-high-stool-Hyuuga take he just arranged everything that way? Almost like if they wanted him dead. Like Gaara. Or they were plain stupid. Like Naruto. Either way it was logical, since the whole basement seemed to be working around those two and listen to only what they said. Therapist, sure! Like if he was gonna tell him anything. No alcohol? Yeah, right! He is gonna die.

So why did he have to care if he was sent to death just like that? He didn't have to. He just could play along and make it easier for them.

'I just hope I'm gonna have a nice funeral. I want 'Let the bodies hit the floor' to be played when you'll be burying me under the brown filth.'

Neji leafed through his reports, then put them back down.

'You are also going back to work on intelligence, if your own intelligence ever does come back. When you are done working to pay all these expenses, you can use the extra to hire a band to play it live yourself.'

Kankuro shrugged. It was just another expectation he really didn't have to accomplish. He will be dead at his funeral, so why should he care anyway.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Heaven. Shikamaru was in heaven. Because that was so obvious that heaven was made of round warm skin and all days were spent on listening to angel's choir which sounded like 'bdmp' and 'plosh'. Or something else vaguely familiar that came out from pregnant wife's belly.

Wife. Yes, wife. Nara Temari. It might have sounded funny, but he never heard anything more beautiful on this world. And she was even a sibling to a depressed nut and a murderous experimental lab's rat! Wasn't it awesome? Well, his dad thought he should have stopped reading those romance novels Hinata has hoarded and held under her bed, but he really had nothing better to do. Because when Temari had mood swings he only could hide somewhere where she couldn't find him. Which was currently under Hinata's bed.

Gaara the murderer was the only one who was naive and suicidal enough to get close to Temari no matter what. He even scolded her once for not treating baby like she should and threatened he would actually take the baby and not give it back. His affections toward the belly of his sisters grew to some kind of... awkward level. Especially when he wanted to hug Temari in the middle of the night and all he found was the redhead curled to her side, preventing him from even touching her skin.

Awkward. Yeah. That was the word. He allowed it, and not because of his sharp claws (gods, no!) or behavior which went more unstable lately (definitely no!) but because of Gaara's temperature. Day by day he just grew hot. Scalding hot.

So hot he could suffocate from the heat when the redhead rolled over him in his light naps in his and Temari's bed. How she could take it, he had no idea. Maybe it was just that it was her family. Because after some time nobody could really just stand him when he stayed glued to your side too long. Which he did. Which was even more creepy than his new body's temperature. Actually, he liked to stay very close to everyone. Which he never did.

How awkward. Yes, that was the word. Awkward.

So he just closed the door and let them to waver in silence while the redhead just sat outside and waited for it to be unlocked. Why was he so absorbed with their baby? Of course it was nice and Temari's belly was just so soft and cute he just sometimes couldn't help himself but draw a smile on it, but it wasn't born yet. Maybe it was a mating season?

But really, he thought the laboratories prevented that, knowing there was no female with the same abilities as him. Or maybe there was, only he didn't know about it. He was vaguely young when it came to his status and time he spent in Neji's team. How troublesome.

But he didn't want to think about it now. He was sitting in his own room with his own woman he took for a wife in a big disastrous wedding his mother tried to condemn and was now feeding her with this nutritious milky soup she was lately fond of because she really looked nice, behaving like a helpless beaming pregnant woman and hell, why wouldn't he want to do that. He felt like a man then.

If there was someone who could take Gaara's increased temperature and clingy needs, that was Naruto. The blond never seemed to mind when Gaara would randomly disappear to stalk his future niece, or when he came back and required Naruto to touch him as much as he could without there being actual sex involved.

Sometimes he looked for him too, because lately Naruto didn't seem to be able to be still and quiet unless he knew where Gaara was. If he did know where he was, then everything was good and he was his usual spazzy, sunny self. If he didn't know where Gaara was, he'd harass security and everyone on the way until they found out. Temari took her suddenly affectionate and clingy brother with pretty much the same equinity that she took her suddenly suffocating marriage. She let it be, let it be, let it beee~

When her mother had died, Temari had been four and her father had been a bastard. Not a very nice combination, which led her to becoming the fearless and down to earth woman she was nowadays. The years she did spend at school were spent being first in her graduating year and first in sports and first in everything, so she was more used to being praised than being pampered. This had caused all this sudden attention to itch at her in all the wrong ways, but she was finding all of this to be really kind of nice.

Gaara obviously adored the idea of a baby enough to want to adopt it – not that she would let him, but it was way better than her initial fear he'd eat it - and it was actually making him behave more like a person and less like a murderous animal. And if she'd ever had any doubts she owned Shikamaru, they were all gone now. He was still lazy, coward and cried more than a man ought, but he adored her almost as much as she adored him. Maybe.

Not that she'd tell. Kankuro, after a dark, depressing start seemed to finally realize he was lying on a pool of his own waste (metaphorically, thanks to Neji`s ban on drinking and Akamaru`s sharp nose) and actually seemed to be considering trying to move out of it. Kiba still hadn't gotten into his pants, tho, though that certainly wasn't for lack of trying. If there was one thing the tattooed brunette could be, that was insistent.

All in all things were really good. If you ignored one little thing.

'Gaara.'

Naruto, of course, didn't ignore it. It was dark, sweaty and they were naked. The room was a mess, but unlike the sweaty and naked, that was mostly Naruto's doing. He'd been going through all of Gaara's clothing's before Gaara had come and dragged him to bed, and he'd been a little too interested to tell his mate of the discovery he'd made until now.

'Gaara, listen.' he gently turned the older boy so he was lying on his back, hand twitching over his body as he touched his legs, his arms and stomach, his nose buried on his chest.

Gaara moaned something incoherently, that was supposed to be an impromptu of 'what'. But he wasn't able to do that anymore. Not because it was dark and sweaty and it was preventing him from keeping his senses together, no. It was only that from some time his senses were just getting lazy, late, mushy and full of glaze, so he couldn't really think when he was this close to Naruto.

He just really wanted to hug him and lick him and kiss him and roll with him on the bed until all needs were gone and they could sleep in peace. He looked at Naruto through his glassy stare, indicating he was listening, but he really wasn't. He felt something wasn't right - and why was this bed touching his back again? But he could care less. Everything was all right as long as he could just hold his sunshine in his arms and kiss the living soul out of him.

Naruto, seemed satisfied that he could get Gaara to look at him, and after a few too many kisses and hurried stroking he dropped the ball.

'Your scent changed again.'

Nice. really, really nice, but—

'What are you talking about?' he said to say something, then attacked Naruto with new kisses, showering his face and neck with licks and light smooches, because he couldn't decide if he wanted to kiss left cheek more, or maybe left eyelid and what about this lovely upper lip? Really, everything was so kissable and...

Huh?

'My scent?' he stopped again, sniffing around. Something...

He attacked Naruto again, giving him a deep, nicely wetted french kiss. Or maybe it was a hungarian kiss. He never remembered the names of it correctly. That sex-book of Temari's was too thick. Who cared about the scent. Like if it mattered or signed anything important or what not...

Naruto kissed back. Because really, Gaara scent was too nice for him to say no. Gaara was too nice, too nice—

Panting he licked his neck, his chest, licked his stomach and down there, where the scent was stronger, being careful of his teeth. He licked until the bitter taste reminded him of what he needed to tell Gaara.

'Gaara. You smell like girls do before they bleed.'

That was it, exactly. He'd gone through all of Gaara's clothing, looking for the ones he had used the least. Just so he could tell what was so different. Kankuro smelt different too, but that was because he had stopped sweating toxins.

He'd gone through all the base looking for a reason why Gaara's scent had changed so much and why whatever it had changed too was so familiar, and had finally found it when he'd been dragged out of the girls bathroom by a very embarrassed Iruka sensei who started explaining him boring things he already knew about Matsuri being a woman and needing certain things because girls lost some dead blood every month, but they all smelled like wanting something just before, and Gaara smelt like if he wanted something almost all the time now, especially when they were alone.

'Girls?...'

Gaara hadn't registered the words that were spoken. He just bit on one of his fingers out of an old habit and wondered why Naruto did stop what he was doing. It felt so nice. So shakily, quiveringly, bouncingly nice... He closed his eyes and breathed. One, two, one, three... Girls before they bleed?

'I'm not a girl.' he said, then got up on his arms and looked at Naruto. He was getting rather moody lately, for unknown reason 'I'm a male. I can't smell like that.'

Because that would be pretty strange. Silly baby, it was probably because he spent too much time around non-pregnant women. Which were no fun in Gaara's opinion lately.

'I'll show you girl.' So he just grabbed Naruto and rolled them over, so the blond was trapped under him and completely, utterly helpless.

He liked it done that way.

The blond didn't fight it, just made an odd noise and leaned so he could lick the blood off the finger Gaara had chewed on.

'I'm not playing. Really, you do smell different.'

'Stop being silly.' Because that was silly. Gaara just decided to kiss him off till he got tired and satisfied and went to sleep. 'There's no possibility of it being true, baby.'

Naruto tried to keep protesting, but Gaara was too convincing for his own good. It didn't seem to be anything bad, either, just something that made Gaara smell so unbelievably nice…

#+#+#+#+#+#

'Want to see something cool?'

She'd been smart this time. The first time they could accurately hear the baby inside, it had been a battlefield between her husband and her brother. This time she'd been careful to tell Shika, wait until he got sick of doing it himself (didn't happen, but she did get sick of him doing it and told him it was enough and that she was going to show Gaara).

Gesturing the younger boy closer, she lifted her shirt, so her by now considerable belly was showing and put his hand a few inches where her bellybutton was.

'Baby? Mommy wants you to meet your uncle.'

Nothing. She didn't feel as silly as she originally did talking with her baby. Shika did it enough for the both of them, mostly listing all the troublesome things he was willing to do for his little princess. Temari still hadn't been able to convince him to actually sign a paper where he legally agreed to them.

It was actually kind of fun doing it sometimes, especially now.

'Come on Bambi, show mommy what you are doing.'

She didn't really plan on calling her poor daughter Bambi, but she loved the horrified faces Shikamaru`s mother (and Kankuro) did whenever she called her that. Still nothing. Now she just felt stupid. If there was one thing Temari didn`t like was feelings stupid.

'Don't be so lazy and say hi to your uncle!'

That got the desired result. A solid little bump from the inside, right over the place Gaara had put his hand.

Temari grinned.

Gaara stepped back, startled. He actually was expecting an actual verbal greeting, not a bump. And such a loud one! But it felt really vivid, so he decided to get back to the belly. When he laid his head on the thin layer of her skin, being now thinner than before, he heard the actual sound of baby moving around. And a fast, little heart, which moved so rapidly...

'Hello, Bambi.' he said quietly, not wanting to startle the baby the way it startled him. 'I'm Gaara.'

It didn't bump this time, but it was still there and it felt so nice and he was just feeling like it was going to fall asleep and...

Drip. He heard dripping. He looked at the belly, uncertain, but no, it wasn't leaking. And Temari wasn't crying also. But he really heard it close, so where-

Drip. Something warm run along his leg. Could it be he was the one who... peed himself? Strange. It hadn't happened since that experiment where big bad doctors wanted to check how long can he live without going to bathroom. But at the other time his belly was hurting so much he just had to and now... Drip.

It wasn't hurting. It felt weird, but... That was embarrassing. He'd better go and just do it in the bathroom. He licked the belly in excuse and scrambled away hurriedly, feeling that something was still running along his legs. Yes, legs. Both of them. He got into the bathroom. There. Now he could just drop his pants and...

'What?'

But ho- What? Blood. He was bleeding. From where? He started looking around but he couldn't decipher anything actually. Did he cut himself there? It was so messy... he didn't remember. And it was still running so he just had to stop it by adding something to it, like toilet paper... yes, toilet paper always worked for minor cuts, no matter what Iruka said about bandages and so on. It probably just looked that bad... He went out of the bathroom and decided to get back to the baby, but he felt that the dripping didn't stop. More, it was just... flowing. Rather quickly.

Now he was starting to freak out. What was it? He could die of a blood loss! Was he sick? He didn't want to die! After getting back to bathroom and checking himself out for a few times, Gaara just couldn't take anymore. When the door of Temari's bedroom opened again, the redhead stood there, feeling at loss, with a face actually scrunched in the vision of 'I'm-creeped-out' and 'I-think-I'm-going-to-cry' and muttered to his happy, babyfied sister: 'I'm dying.'

'…what?'

When her brother had left like that she'd thought he would go do something stupid, like cry, which was what Shika had done when she'd shown their daughter's neat new trick. Now Gaara looked seriously freaked out, and she pulled her shirt back down and quickly walked to him, touching his cheek in what she hoped was a reassuring way.

'Gaara, you are not dying. What's wrong? Are you hurting somewhere?'

'I'm bleeding.' he said and bit his tongue, being still aware his blood still run, RUN out of him and soaked his pants and stained the floor. He didn't know why here. He didn't even know how to say it. He was just... just bleeding himself out. And now, when he thought of it... 'My stomach feels funny.' he muttered, almost not moving his mouth. It was probably an internal wound. How did he get that, he had no idea. But he was going to drown his insides in blood and die like that. 'Help.' That was just a whisper. His throat clenched from fear so much, he couldn't speak like a normal person anymore.

'Gaara.' Temari whispered, for a second as terrified as the younger boy. She had never, ever in her life seen her little brother look so utterly scared and helpless. She had never expected him to turn for her for help, either, and that was what finally shook her out of her stupor, pulling the shorter teen to her chest. 'Gaara, you are not dying. I promise.' she said, feigning a calm that she didn't quite feel, but knowing someone needed to be calm for the two of them, and considering Bambi wouldn't be out for another three months, she might as well take the paper.

Gaara was sizzling hot, but that was normal as of late. She hadn't thought it a symptom. Kabuto had said it wasn't anything out of line, only it wasn't exactly fever.

'You are standing on your own and nothing hurts. It just looks bad.' Actually, it did look bad. It looked horribly, horribly bad- when she looked down there was a small puddle of blood growing between her brother's shoes. Dread and a sort of effervescent anger filled her in ways that nothing really had since she had left this place and then come back.

Gaara was bleeding somewhere down there and who had easy and ready access to that specific part of Gaara's anatomy?

'Gaara, did Naruto hurt you?'

Gaara stiffed a bit more, then shot her sister an offended glare.

'He did not!' he hissed 'He didn't! He couldn't... he shouldn't...?' The anger was quickly melting under the fear and confusion, as Gaara went even more stiff and pale. Could Naruto had done something to him during their previous playing activities? But Naruto, as livid as he was, didn't do anything hurtful to him. But he really wasn't hurting over now too. So... Naruto?...

'I don't know!' he whined, horrified, feeling that the blood ran just as freely as before 'Make it stop!'

'Okay.' Temari said, trying to maintain her calm. 'But I can't do it here, baby brother, we need to go the infirmary. Kabuto is going to have to examine you.'

Gaara immediately let go of her and backed away.

'No!' he hissed in a panicked fit 'He'll use pointy things! No!' And then he just crawled up to the corner and looked at her like an animal that was already dying, but was ready to fight for death for what was left of him. Temari followed him, but left a nice, wide space in case he decided to leash at her, extending her hands again in a pleading gesture.

'Gaara, please, I'm not a doctor. You know I hate them doing things to you as- almost as much as you do. You know I'd never let them do anything bad to you, right? Gaara, the baby is worried, she wants you to get better, and for that we need to examine you. Please let me take you to the infirmary, I swear I'm staying with you and if Kabuto or Neji try something weird I'll kill them myself.'

Gaara looked at her with wide eyes, chewing on his fingers nervously. But she let him be shot by Kabuto before! Was she lying? But she was acting nice lately... and the baby was shifting so nervously it actually make him nervous even more. He looked at the red stains on the carpet and pinned her with his, full of fear now, stare.

'You promise?' he whispered. Because if she didn't, he wouldn't know what to do anymore.

'We'll make a centerpiece of their skull and hang it on the baby's crib.' She said, inching a little bit closer and trying to sound as reassuring as possible 'I'm not leaving you, ok?'

Gaara obediently got up and glued himself to one of her arms on a permanent glue, like if letting her go might've meant she changed her mind.

'Sorry.' he muttered, seeing stains on a carpet.

Temari pulled him closer as best as she could, stroking his head gently and slowly moving him towards the door.

'Don't worry, we'll make Kankuro clean it.'

She hoped that stains on the carpet would come out as the worst problem of this situation.


	11. Kümme

Ibiki didn`t really look like a psychiatrist, and he wasn't one. Neji had quickly figured out Kankuro wasn't going to talk shit to anyone who didn't squeeze whatever shit was rotting him from the inside by force, and that's why he had requested one of his uncle's associates.

That didn't mean that the older man didn't have the basic requirements a psychologist had- just that it came with a few little perks his younger cousin affectionately referred to as _mindfuck_. Mindfucking was what Ibiki had been steadily doing with this little emo boy that had arrived to his shiny new assigned office, and it had taken him about forty minutes into the second session to have the youth threatening to kill him. Considering that Kankuro hadn't seemed to care about what was done to him, he considered it a complete success.

But that was old story, twenty sessions ago. Kankuro occasionally still had mood swings, but he did seem to be getting better.

'That does sound like sexual harassment.' he commented, litting a new cigarette and offering the package to the younger boy. They were outside, still within the faculty's perimeter, but not inside the building itself. The scarred man rarely used the nice, shiny office he'd been given, instead taking the boy to his own room, outside somewhere or to some deserted room. 'Why don't you tell Neji to just get you another one? I hear his sister is a real babe.'

'Oh, does it.' muttered Kankuro with widely known sarcasm and took the offered cancer stick, only to toy with it within his hands 'And I thought cornering a man in a closed room is just an invitation to an innocent game of a tag. His sister is probably even worse. Not interested.'

Why were everyone pressuring onto him to get anyone to hop in his bed? Not that he didn't want to, but really, that was becoming creepy. Ibiki mentioned something about this nineteen sessions ago, when Kankuro was not really listening and answering, just to get him on a flying frenzy. It sounded like if the scarred psycho-logo-man was keeping nice contacts with Inuzuka family. The hell. He tossed the cigarette on the floor.

'And Neji is not a postbitch. If anything, he is a bitch-queen who won't do what you ask him for.'

He didn't, when Kankuro wanted to drink something, he didn't when he almost vomited his own stomach during the bad nights of getting off so suddenly of his alcohol, he didn't, when he was taken to Morino and he didn't when he complained about the dog boy breathing down his face. So obviously, he wouldn't do otherwise. And he didn't really care. He just felt lonely.

He remembered family. His father, mother, uncle and siblings sitting in one room, smiling, being happy... and now, his parents were just laying in the dust, Yashamaru got killed by his own sweet sister who was pregnant and forgot he existed (he eloped back three stages of depression when he heard that the baby was moving inside her and she told about it to everyone and he was the last to know) and his little sweet brother was a murderous animal who didn't care about him anyway. What was that, the smart sentence? Oh, yeah.

_Life is a bitch and then you die, fuck the world, let's get high_! Very true. If he only could just get high on something different than alcohol and forget about this joke of a life he had...

'Sure he would. It's all about how you ask things.' Say, if they happened to be delivered by an underage blond foxy, he was sure it would get a yes, regardless of the situation, but that's not something you told a depressive kid, especially concerning your boss. 'And you really should stop asking anyway.'

He took a deep, long drag and blew it out of his nose, eyeing the deceivingly eighth rate security the facility possessed: and old cart-thing with an even older man (apparently averaging on 108), completely with a large gut shyly covered with a newspaper.

'Why don't you get out of here?'

'And where should I go, Plaza Street? This place at least gives me a bed.' answered Kankuro, looking at the dark bits of cigarettes. No, he didn't want out. He'd probably die there in a horrible death of being robbed or murdered or simply because of lack of food and who knows, he might even turn out to be a cold bastard like his father was. He knew he could, he found him in the mirror sometimes. But he didn't really want to. 'But if you're kicking me out then hell, I won't take any more of your time and go.'

'Aw, I'm going to start to think you like me or something.' the older men laughed, more dark, inky smoke coming from his lungs. He took another drag to replace it. 'Just wondering what keeps you here.'

Kankuro shrugged.

'A good choice of drinks, I guess.' he muttered and laughed bitterly 'I will go. I will pack my things and go, don't worry. You won't find me here by tomorrow's morning. On my way...'

Which could be easily translated into: whatever you say I'll agree, just shut up and leave me alone. Ibiki said nothing, still staring at the crispy, cheery morning air.

'I do wonder.' he said when he finished the cigarette, dropping the consumed butt and squishing it with his boots. 'I read your reports. Your sister is good, but she isn't that good.' She looked at the package, toyed with another cigarette, then decided against it.

'Infiltration was your doing. Good work, too.' A pause. 'She got caught, didn't she?'

'I don't know what are you talking about.' Oh no, he wasn't going to get into this. The last thing he ever wanted was to scratch the painful itch of those days. He promised to himself he didn't know, and even if his brain knew he did know, his body didn't know and so did he. Not a snowball's chance in hell.

'Yeah, you do.' the older man said calmly. 'And you had to get her out, right?'

That wasn't in the reports, but Ibiki hadn't been in this line of work for nothing.

'How old were you? Eighteen? Seventeen?'

'I don't know what are you talking about, Mr. Morino.' he repeated, still staring at the floor. No, he wasn't at proper age then. But so what? They all matured before they got a chance to lose their childhood.

'That`s how Hatake first heard of you two.' Now he did need the cigarette. 'The hospital got your records. Risky, but what could you do? She would have died if you hadn't taken her.'

'Shut up! What else could we do?' he exploded, but immediately he stopped himself and looked at the floor again, like if it held the answers to all the questions of eternity 'I thought I'm at psychiatrist's not inside the 'Mother's Goose' book. I have no idea who is the damn 'she' you keep mentioning.' he bit through his teeth and went still.

'Your sister, Temari.' The same person that had taken him from home when he was sixteen, and who knew why the hell had he decided to follow her. He hadn't seen the scars, but her clothes covered them. He wondered if Shikamaru really knew what they were. 'More dead than alive when you got her to the ER, no one expected her to pull through.'

He wondered how old Kankuro had been at the time. Depending on it (or if he`d lied) they might have told him that. What a nice thing to hear after dragging your big sister out of a torture chamber.

Of course. How could he forget? First he got to her, he thought she really was dead. They slashed her skin her mother was so proud off and left ugly gashes after using fire on it. Her face was a grotesque rememberal of what it was before and she was obviously choking on the lack of oxygen - broken nose was broken, and it wasn't broken nicely. Also, her underwear was off, but if they did anything there, he never knew and never dared to ask. He only wondered how she managed on walking without three fingers on her left foot so quickly. She was just though. He went there, but so what? She was his sister, every brother would do that. He knew that on the inside. Outside, he just sat in silence, playing mute. The man's large, calloused hand was on top his head, just long enough for the other to know it was there, then it disappeared in his jacket to get another cigarette.

'You did good, kid. You saved your sister.'

'I don't know what are you talking about.' he muttered, though his voice was getting dangerously thin. He still looked at the floor stubbornly, but didn't dare to blink, just in case if this blurry fog that suddenly appeared from nowhere wanted to spill over the brim of his eyes. Yeah, thanks for noticing. Someone did. Finally. Not that he wanted to or something. He wasn't really used to praise and he was not seeking it. It was just... nice.

'Hmm.' Ibiki said, not agreeing or disagreeing with the comment, just giving the brunet time to compose himself. Talking about these things would do him good, but forcing him to do it wasn't. It was enough that he was thinking about them. 'That CD you made me borrow was pure shit. I can't help but wonder if you really listen to that trash or you just hate me.'

'Both.' said Kankuro nonchalantly, sniffing a little, but shrugging it off. 'You don't know the value of real art, mister.'

Not that he was a master of musical arts or something like that. But he liked those unpredictable 'growls' or seizuring 'aaaah's'. They were so loud he didn't have to think about every problem in his life when it killed his brain.

'If I don't anymore, it's because I've been partially deafened by your `art`.' the man said, chuckling lightly. 'I couldn't help but wonder if it was a rock band of a recording of an exorcism. Maybe an electroshock session. I'll teach you what real rock is about, someday.' Grandpa on the security booth snorted awake, looked around blearily, then stretched, shirt railing up and exposing lots of nice, hairy gut. 'I could have lived without that image.' the man said, scratching his bandanna lightly and tossing the cigarette on the floor as well. 'Anything you want me to know?'

Ibiki never asked Kankuro if he wanted to tell him something, it was always if the other would like for him to know something before the session was officially ended.

'Will we ever get out of this hell hole?' asked Kankuro. No, he didn't really wanted to say it that way. It was rather supposed to be: 'Will this ever end, be normal, will I ever be cured, will Gaara be okay, will the newlyweds be okay in this dark basement' or something stupid like that. But he wasn't really sad he didn't ask it. They'll probably sit there until the middle ages of the new era came. Bleh. That got another smile from the older man.

'Sooner than you expect. We are on countdown.' Information had come again, this time on the cat experiment, the Nibi no Bakeneko. As usual, they would be moving again. Unlike last time, there were news. 'If all goes well, we might go public.'  
And wouldn't that be a wonder? From what they had gathered, this one was a twenty nine years old female. When they had started experimenting on her, she had been older. Gaara was too young and his memories of the lab were a mess and Naruto had never known anything else, so his definition of abuse and tempering was vague at best. If this girl was good enough to know better, and if she could make proper declarations…

'From what I hear, your in law could use a hand in intelligence.'

'My in law is obsessed over my sister's womb.' And that was rather hilarious when one looked from the affair. He liked looking at them from the affair. It was comforting to know he wasn't at range of his sister's hands then. So it was comfortable. So, they were on countdown. 'I guess I'll go pack then.' he said cynically and stood straight. 'And stop smoking that shit. I'm addictive, I'll get it from you.' If anything, his tortures were done for today.

'Exactly why he needs a hand on intelligence.' Nara Shikamaru, genius extraordinaire and hater of all things troublesome was more delighted about being a daddy than a whole maternity ward together. The wonders on this world. 'Yeah, I wouldn't want to be a bad influence on you.' Pushing himself off the wall, he gave the boy a small wave, deciding it was a good time to go see what Gai had decided to make up this time to properly defeat his rival. A good laugh wouldn't hurt. 'See you in a couple days, kid. Try not to get humped too much.'

'Shut up. old man. I know you're jealous.' Kankuro was chuckling lightly, while going his way. Actually, it wasn't a laughing matter at all and he was ready to use his knife next time the dog boy would try to see how he looked without clothes. But helping Nara getting some his intelligence back? No way. There were very few things that drove his sister insane. If anything, it was worth seeing as a spectacle that would never, ever repeat itself. Until the next kid, that is.

'If he does give you problems, let me know. I'll talk with Neji.' It was nice that the youngest Inuzuka brat was pinning for this mess of a kid, but the boy really should've learnt some restraint. Not that he could blame him- Ibiki had worked for several years with his mother. How she had ended up with such good, balanced kids, he'd never know. The woman had more in common with Gaara and those man eating dogs of hers than her offspring.

He almost wondered if Kiba purposely pestered Kankuro to get a rise out of him and force him to move out of the bottomless depressions he'd been in, but as usual, he didn't know. Sometimes he thought the kid to be more cunning that he leant on, other times he was sure the boy was just a hothead that really could use a leash and a muzzle. Oh, wasn't that a nice mental image. If Kankuro ever mentioned the boy in a more positive context than 'and he tried to touch me in a bad place' he might mention it to him.

Both the tattooed brunet and the foxy blond were waiting inside by the time Kankuro got in, doubtlessly waiting for his patient who was still taking a moment outside. Kiba had a nice bruise on the side of his face, and he might have laughed at that if it weren't because the skinny brunet was saying something that looked both serious and depressing to the whiskered blond, who unsurprisingly looked on the brink of tears. At least someone acted according to his emotions… Giving a small wave that only enthusiastically returned by the younger of the pair, he exited the room.

When Kankuro came out, the situation changed. The depressed tone took an optimistic note and in one moment, Kiba was laughing like if he was a dog seeing his master after long time of not seeing him.

'Hey there, babe!' he yelled at him, at which Kankuro gave out a loud

'Eww!' with a very articulate mimic, which put Inuzuka off in an instant. But only for an instant also. 'What's happened to you?'

Kankuro asked only because he was a nice guy. If he could, he would vanish right now, feeling the upcoming attack of unstopped love.

'Oh, nothing, really! Everything's fiiine!' another laugh. Kankuro rolled his eyes and faced Naruto, ignoring Kiba as much as he could. The blond kid didn't look very happy.

'Hey, squirt, what's up?' he asked, feeling a little out of place. Nobody ever came to meet him after those sessions, only Kiba.

'Temari wants to show you her kicking belly.'

Kiba butted in, wanting to be at the centre of attention, especially Kankuro's attention. Which lead to even more ignoring from his side. Why? He was trying so hard! But Kankuro didn't want to see his efforts.

'Her baby, huh? All right then, I guess I could go...' said the brunet slowly, like if he wasn't sure if he could do it. He wasn't sure himself, it was an awkward situation - Shikamaru didn't let him close his sister since his psychotherapeutic sessions, fearing he might go insane on her tummy. Which, after seventh long talk of issues from him, he decided he would do, just to make some reasons to make this talk believable. Shikamaru was losing his logic when it came to this kid.

Maybe he should make some fake scenery with some droplets of blood here and there, to make it more believable. He'd just borrow fresh meat from the kitchen and squeeze it hard, maybe some droplets would come...

'Temari, it's us! Are you there?' yelled Kiba, interrupting his way of thoughts. They got there pretty fast, it was close to Ibiki's room, just like every other doctor's here, because Shikamar- He didn't end that thought. The door opened. And no, it wasn't unicorns and flowers that blinded him. Not, it wasn't even the awkward kissy scene between happy parents that made him shut up.

It was the blood. The fucking red, fresh blood staining the carpet like if somebody was bleeding himself out and was trying to do it in the corner, or maybe at the door, he didn't know. There was the same scary amount here and there. Dear gods, did something happen to Temari? Don't tell me they got her again or that her pregnancy!...

CLANG. A metallic spoon with porcelain bowl hit the floor. No, it wasn't Kiba, who stood frozen in one spot. It wasn't Naruto, who seemed to be too shocked to move. And it certainly wasn't him, since he didn't carry porcelain bowls onto the psychiatrist's meetings. It was Shikamaru.

He came close too quietly and before they could warn him, he saw everything. He looked at the blood pale as the moon itself, which made the grotesque comparison - like if he was the one to spilt it there. But he probably wasn't.

'AAAHHH! TEMARII!'

Nope, he wasn't. And Kankuro didn't want to check his reaction for blood anymore. Shikamaru looked like if he was having a heart attack. A very quick one. Which made him run at the speed of light who knows where. They followed, because if anything, the man in love could lead them to the right place. Kankuro only hoped it wasn't as bad as it looked like.

The only person to remain in the room was the youngest one of them, who stared at the blood with a sort of gentle fascination as his blue eyes dilated and took on the smaller and bigger pools of blood, the bloody footprints, but above it all the scent.

'Gaara.' he whispered leaning down and touching the fingertips to the coagulating gore on the floor, head tilting to the side curiously. This was Gaara's blood. Gaara, who he had seen not three hours ago when Temari had shooed him off to go get Kankuro, and who had been perfectly fine, if clingier than usual- He lifted the fingers and sniffed the blood, a deep whine of distress emerging from his chest. Temari hadn't been hurt here, Gaara had. And this blood…

'Dead. Dead blood.' It was cold and tasted dead and it was Gaara's. Shikamaru might want to shriek and flail all he wanted but it was Gaara's and it was- 'Dead.'

But… The scent, Gaara and Temari's, he could track it—but the blood was dead! The blood was cold and the scent was cooling so where, wherewherewherewherewhere— '-IS GAARA?'

#+#+#+#+#+#

'No, I don't think you understand what I told you, you are not doing any test to Gaara until I know what they are for!'

Temari was a bit busy at the moment. She was busy having a baby in her stomach, one hand in a death grip by her youngest brother and the other holding a very illegal Magnum pointed at the white-haired doctor's face.

She'd gotten Gaara to the infirmary, as promised. Then they had gone to the *special* infirmary, for unknown reasons. Kabuto had done what she had expected to do and after much coaxing they had managed to get Gaara to more or less agreeably allow the man to explore his neither regions (and if that didn't have anything to do with Mr. Pretty-Face-McNeedle, she'd eat the gun she was holding, regardless of the fact she hadn't really seen Haku slip a pang somewhere neither her or Gaara had noticed). Then Kabuto had cleaned Gaara down there and he´d started smiling a little too nicely for her liking, and now big tests were being scheduled and words about tomography´s and blood test and cameras being showed where no cameras should be allowed, and still no answer as to why when her brother might be having internal trauma.

'No, nonono, stay where you are, if you please.'

She didn't trust Kabuto anywhere near her, and she was keeping him at some good five feet from the bed where she was standing next to. She had already fired a warning shot between the man's legs and had every intention of aiming a lot higher if some answers weren't given, magic hands and the fact she owed her very nice and mostly unscarred body to them or not. Hatake from security had been called to try and subdue her as well as Zabuza, but neither seemed inclined to get close, mostly out of disinterest. Or maybe too much interest. No one trusted a very interested Kabuto.

'Now, please explain to silly little me why the hell do you want to poke my brother around and why do you look like you got what you wanted for Christmas. If he wasn't raped and it's not internal trauma, where the hell is all that blood coming from?'

'Oh, Temari, how to say it...' said Kabuto and smiled widely. On the inside he barely could stop shivering from giddiness, because what he saw (and what his computers told him) was just... a miracle that science was looking for many, many years. Like a dream come true of all medics around the world. In his own infirmary.

At first he couldn't believe it himself. The little thing looked just like an average, a little deep wound, which Gaara could obtain by sitting on a nail. It looked rather scary, but he met worse things in his life. But when he wanted to examine the depth of this wound and it just went and went and went deeper and deeper so he could actually stick a finger inside Gaara and the redhead, as stiff and pained he was, only grimaced, like if it was nothing, having his finger close to his insides by a wound...

He wanted to laugh it off as a shock of the redhead, who probably was in a great pain, but when the computer examined the blood and it said, YES, IT SAID THAT it's not an actual blood but endometrial lining that shed due not having the little embryo in it... He had no other choice but to believe it. He ran the tests for three times, not saying anything, wanting to be sure he didn't make a mistake over an ugly wound, but no, it seemed all right. And true.

Dear gods, he was the happiest man on the world since he managed cloning Neji's pants on a mouse with a mouse (and Neji didn't know it till now. Hopefully).

'Maybe I won't make it long or complicated. It's nothing bad actually. It's a natural thing for the half of the population. It's only that Gaara is in the wrong half.'

He looked at them, but it seemed that neither Temari nor Gaara or even Zabuza and Haku did not get what he was talking about (except Kakashi, who never knew, since he was not interested in all this medical thing).

'What I mean is - Gaara is having an uterus and is going through menstrual cycle. Instead of panicking I'd recommend some sanitary pads or pampers if Gaara is opposed to it - and a hot bottle of water for eventual cramps. I'd also recommend letting him stay here since it's a special situation... and needs to be thoroughly known from the roots. Or, to makes long things short: a medical miracle and some research is absolutely needed. All right?'

Zabuza gaped. Haku parted that perfect little mouth of his into a delicate 'O' and Temari slowly lowered the gun and stared at the giddy doctor as if he'd grown three or four new heads.

'...what?'

Gaara only clung to Temari more, trembling and confused, not getting a word of what was said.

'I don't wanna.' he whispered, still feeling very bad about that his genitals were touched and patted and even stretched in a weird way which only doctors could do because it hurt and he still was bleeding and probably it meant there was no cure, because if there was, he'd have a band aid on it now. 'I'm going to die, aren't I?'

'I said' Kabuto blessed his harsh schooling he had to go through when he learned about medicine. If it wasn't for the creepiest and the most dark things Sasori shoved into him, he'd probably now start dancing or screaming or pulling out his hair or running around and screaming 'Eureka' while pulling his hair and dancing. Or he'd probably just faint from overdose of emotions 'That Gaara is having an uterus. Womb. Woman's internal genitalias where the embryo can cling and grow. And now he is not wounded but he is shedding his menstrual blood. The thing that becomes placenta when impregnated. Because it's not a wound. It's a vagina. A female reproductive organ. And now he is in one of the stages of ovulation cycle.' He could go on and on like that until they understood. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to go like that for long, because his words were slowly getting out of a medical language. 'Gaara has a canal for a male reproductive organs. If the ovulation is going all right he can also get impregnated. Vagina. Vagoo. Vag. Pussy.'

'Buh.' Temari said. No one in the room, except perhaps for Kabuto and Gaara himself could have blamed her for such an intelligent comment. In fact, even Hatake looked pretty damn sympathizing of the sentiment. 'But- but… where did it come from?' She gestured at her brother with the gun blandly, then rubbed her forehead with the back of the hand still holding it. 'It wasn't there before!'

They had lived with Gaara for nearly four years now. Gaara hadn't exactly yet grasped the significance of modesty and Temari had long since stopped even trying to get her brother to wear clothes if he didn't want to. At least Naruto seemed to have convinced him to keep it mostly to their room, but in the good old days of psychotic Gaara, she'd gotten more defined looks of her brother's very male anatomy than she would have cared for.

'I sincerely have no idea.' said Kabuto and smiled even wider, like if he just said he knew 'But I have my suspections. Probably it has to do something with the fact that maybe you, the only woman that got close to him, is not bleeding anymore and he had developed them because he felt something was amiss. Or maybe he always believed he had one or that he was a girl. Or maybe something went wrong in the past and his genes made him an intersex creature and something triggered him to interchange. Did you want to have a baby, Gaara?'

Gaara shivered, like if he was caught red-handed eating cookies from the cookie jar.

'I like Bambi.' he whispered, curling even closer to Temari and hiding his face behind her 'I'm sorry. I will stop. I will hate it.'

'I doubt it will help now. So you see, we have a clue, it probably has something to do with hormones and him liking your pregnancy, Temari.'

'I'm sorry!...' whined Gaara. 'I won't do that anymore... '

'...but we will know for sure after some deeper research. So I insist on leaving him here.' Kabuto's teeth clattered. It was probably the first shock getting to him. The older girl let go of the hand her brother was clinging to and sat next to him in bed within easy reach of him, pulling him closer.

'You didn't do anything wrong, Gaara, I'm sure the baby likes that you like her so much.' she said as sincerely as she could while her very impressive mind started running like a hamster on crack to try and absorb the idea. Okay. Let's look back two years ago. Gaara was insane, everyone hated each other. Enter blond ball of sunshine and there is a significant decrease of aggressively for Gaara. Her brother suddenly threatens instead of simply pulling out limbs and rearranging them in new and artistic shaped. Still male Gaara.

They left, Gaara went batshit insane for about three months. Still male Gaara. They came back, her brother all of the sudden is glued to malnourished ball of sunshine and starts taking care of him like—like a mother. Around the same time she gets pregnant. Making sure he slept, making sure he ate and not leaving him alone with anyone. RADICAL decrease of aggressively. He didn't even hurt Neji if Naruto paid too much attention to the brown-haired Hyuuga. He suddenly decides he loves her about as much as Naruto, lets her cuddle and touch him like a nice little kitty and all but seems determined to go neck to neck with Shikamaru on the startage of a cult regarding her dilating stomach.

'Is this because of what they did to him? Can he be that sensitive to hormones…?' She knew Gaara had been the first successful experiment with the implantation of animal traits on a living human. She also knew that most prototypes weren`t exactly know for their flawlessness. 'I thought they didn't want or need them to reproduce.'

Neither Naruto or Gaara were interested on ovulating females beyond the initial surprise at the sudden change in scents. As far as she knew, neither had even expressed sexual desire towards them – or god forbid, an actual animal.

'No, they actually didn't, that's why it's even more surprising.' said Kabuto, smiling now a bit too widely or too happily 'I haven't heard of him being sensitive to hormones, though I remember it was mentioned he could, I repeat, could have developed such an ability. But Gaara never was too friendly to test that theory.' Yes, he really had nerves made of the hardest metal on earth. Because the earth was crumbling beneath his feet and he was standing and rummaging through his medical drawers like if nothing has happened 'I suggest using some of the sanitary pads, Gaara seems to be in a major need of those now...'

He wanted to say something more, but he stopped himself. And it was probably the best moment, because three seconds later, the far, far tapping has changed into the mad stomping and the door to the infirmary has been practically kicked open (thanks gods they were made to protect against machine guns and bombs so they didn't break) and a very hysteric father of a family-to-be ran in, probably on his last breaths.

'TEMARI' he worded in capital letters, which probably meant he was slipping away with his sanity, not mentioning the calmness and logic 'OHMYGODYOU'REHEREWHAT''!'

Gaara yelped when Temari was taken away from him and whined dangerously close to getting Shikamaru's hysteria and he started to look around wildly, searching for a lethal injection he suspected Kabuto wanted to get out if his drawler.

'Ahem, Shikamaru, listen...'

'.' He didn't listen.

'...can I hit him?' offered Kakashi helpfully.

'Shikamaru. I'm better than you, let go and stop squishing me.' Temari said in a very deadpan voice. The voice that usually preluded blood. It was an effort not to point a gun to her husband. They had first gone to the normal infirmary, where they had found no one. At this point and while they tried to find where Temari had gone, and Kankuro, who seemed more able to use his neurons actually *asked* if his sister had been wounded, Shikamaru had outran them and gone in some other direction until he had found this place.

By then, he wasn't the only one in the infirmary.

'Ksshh! Level 23, code red!' Zabuza and Hatake`s walkie talkies suddenly sprang to life, Kiba`s strained voice coming from the device. 'Naruto's going over there, he's gone fucking mad!'

The younger guard didn`t sound very pleased by this. Actually, he sounded downright panicky. Might have something to do with his broken arm. Zabuza and Kakashi stared at each other for all of a second, and then the shorter male calmly walked to the door and entered the security code that actually shut them.

'Copy that.' Zabuza muttered calmly before reaching for a standard security rifle and starting to load it with tranquilizers. 'Haku, get out of here, take the Nara's with you.'

The little beauty stared at his companion, seemingly more than ready to protest the choice of action when Temari interrupted Shikamaru insistent tugging.

'Wait, we can't leave Gaara alone!'

By the time Zabuza had finished loading the first round and passed the rifle to Hatake, there was a sonorous bam against the door, followed by even more sonorous slamming of something against it. The slamming was so violent that Hatake actually took several steps back, his visible eye widening slightly in surprise.

'…Fuck.'

'If we take him with us, we will be followed.' said Kabuto as calmly as possible, and tossed the sanitary pads inside the drawlers only to take out the syringe with sleeping drugs and started loading it quickly 'I won't probably stop him or anything, but even if I have five percent of chance to do anything, I will do it. I assume I can count on your help also.'

The last statement was said to Zabuza and Kakashi, while Kabuto for a moment left the syringe and started unlocking the security passage in case of fire. Gaara, who sat in the corner, looked at the door confused, not knowing what to do. He was still bleeding and they didn't want to take him with them, and that wasn't a good option, they probably wanted to leave him to die. On the other hand, it was just Naruto. Just or maybe not? He hadn't felt such an angry aura from the blond before and it actually didn't convince him that it was 'just' Naruto and that he was safe. So he crawled to his sister and got a steel grip on her hand again, wanting to leave with them. Shikamaru looked like if he was about to protest, but he seemed to be just as confused about the situation and still looked at his wife like if she was the one bleeding and not Gaara so he acted purely on the instinct of protection: get somewhere safe.

So he didn't even spare the redheaded a glance. When he was about to take Gaara by hand in addition to his wife he was now fully carrying on his hands, Kabuto took a hold on his syringe again. And that wasn't the best move. Gaara noticed it. He went stiff completely, then he hissed and quickly got back onto the table, looking like if it was threatening him.

'Godsdammit! It's not for you, Gaara!...' started Kabuto, but once he moved his feet wanting to shush the redhead, Gaara stepped back, slipped on his own blood and landed on his back, which meant he accidentally got into a feral position, still seeing the syringe in Kabuto's hand. Panic overtook him. He screamed for help.

The slamming on the door seemed to get stronger by the minute, but that was probably only their minds playing tricks on them. That or the four-inch metal finally giving in. Kakashi was starting to get the feeling he really should have stayed in bed today. Both Zabuza and him where ready for the imminent breaking in from the little ball of sunshine that suddenly seemed to want to turn into a little ball of flaming hellfire.

Neither were paying attention to what was going on the background, considering their physical wholeness might as well depend on it, and so they didn't turn when Gaara emitted the single, high-pitched shriek.

The creature on the other side, however, did. The slamming of the door, with its complaining and agonic twisting of metal and locks and hinges suddenly stopped, complete and utter silence replacing the brutal beatings from before. Both security guards stared at each other, surprised by the sudden stop of the commotion, especially when it didn't look like if the door would hold much longer.

'…The hell-' That's when the security exit suddenly slammed open. What happened next would have been very hard to explain exactly, considering how fast it happened. Security cameras were needed to actually make sense of the situation.

First, Kabuto learnt how to fly, by means of a punch that shattered his jawbone in two places and landed him on Kakashi. It wasn't a particularly successful fly and it ended with Kabuto digging the rifle on the silver-haired man's stomach and knocking him against the wall, which took him out of the picture for the next several seconds. Zabuza tried to aim at the red-eyed creature that had apparently been the cause of such a unnatural phenomena, but the thing grabbed the metal bed and slammed it sideways on most of his upper body, leaving him wondering in the endorphin haze known as 'the plains of imminent concussion'.

Gaara slowly, so slowly took out his hands out of his hair and uncurled from the position he took following his instincts, expecting to be hit. But he wasn't hit, he was just held against a warm body which overflew with power and breathed angrily, waiting for something. A sign, maybe. He wasn't sure.

Kyuubi snarled at the remaining spectators fiercely, showing rows and rows of canine and piercing them with ruby-red eyes as it stood between Gaara and them, keeping the redhead clutched to his chest protectively with one arm, inintermitent growls coming from his throat. The only reason that he hadn't attacked the rest was that they were well away from his mate and that they didn't seem to have any weapons on them, Haku being too shocked to even think of drawing his needles out. His other arm hung limply to his side, not that he seemed to notice. He had dislocated it trying to force the main door open. Besides his eyes, the whisker-like marks on his cheeks had deepened to a soft brown and looked more like burn marks than anything. He was also bleeding at various spots, but it also seemed to be self effected from both stress and his attempts on the door.

Temari just gaped, trying to reconcile this thing that seemed to have come out of a nightmare with the little thing that followed her baby brother like a puppy would, her arms firmly latched to Shikamaru`s neck and not looking like if she had any intention of letting go.

'Gaara.' she said, her voice oddly thin. '…tell him to calm down.'

Gaara saw his sister, deathly pale, clutching to her husband for her life and Shikamaru, who held her very close and was wielding a pencil in his hand, probably the only pointy thing he could find in the range of his position. He couldn't exactly see Haku, but he was probably petrified, as it was visible by the way he froze to the spot. Kabuto lied still on Kakashi, breathing but unmoving, just as Kakashi. Zabuza seemed to move, but it was only a slow motioned tortoise tempo. The syringe laid on the floor, broken. He heard his sister saying something, but he couldn't hear what. Naruto was breathing so loudly.

And the baby... the baby was wailing in a tone any baby shouldn't have wailed. It was probably as panicked as its mother, who only held still because she was stronger than the unborn cub.

He moved his head, brushing against the bloodied chest and saw the limp arm. Then he took a look on the new features. So many reds in such a non-red place.

'Who are you?' he asked quietly, recognizing but not seeing his happy ball of sunshine in this horrifying mask of madness 'Why are you like this?'

This was impossible. Naruto was gone again. What he saw couldn't be his sweet cuddly baby he loved and cherished. Naruto was gone again. That was too much of bad things for him today. First, Bambi said hello, then he started bleeding, then Kabuto didn't cure it, wanted to threaten him with a syringe and now Naruto was... this.

He felt...

...anger.

'What have you done to yourself?' he muttered, feeling it bubbling inside him. Uprising growl... He exploded. 'What have you done!' he howled, throwing one arm of himself and pushing on Naruto's chest as hard as he could. It wasn't exactly effective, since Naruto seemed to gain some power even he, the prime alpha male could not beat, but it didn't stop him from trying 'Who the hell are you? Go away from me! I want my baby Naruto! What have you done to yourself! I don't want you like this! I hate you like this! Give me back my baby NOW!'

And really, if even for an instant, his eyes blinked golden black for a moment. Or maybe not, Shikamaru didn't know. He was so shaken he could probably now experience flying pigs and other hallucinations.

'You called.' Kyuubi rasped in a soft, husky voice. Naruto stopped snarling at the cowering couple in favor of giving Mate a suspicious look, growling warningly, though not aggressively as he tried to move away and pulled him closer, tucking his head under his chin, and pinning him to his chest, eyes darting back and forth between the occupants of the room to make sure no new threat decided to make act of presence.

'Dead.' he rasped, leaning down and licking Gaara's ear possessively. 'Blood told me you were dead.'

'I'm dying.' Gaara hissed, unmoving, breathing rapidly. It all felt like his sunshine, only it wasn't his sunshine and he wanted this thing to be gone. 'I'm dying and I'm going to be dead if you don't STOP THIS!' The last sentence was supposed to be angered growl, but came out as a yell of pain and despair. It really was his sunshine. Deep down there... under the layer of skins and auras...

'Stop this.' he said much more quietly 'Stop this. Come back to me, love. Please...'

Kyuubi seemed to consider this—he looked…

'No crying.' he cooed, nuzzling the other gently and licking Mate's soft, nice skin. It had to be a mistake—Mate couldn't be sick. Mate felt good, even if the scent of dead blood was still around… He wanted to get away from it. He gave one last look at the terrified trio in the corner, then picked Gaara up with one hand, fully intending to carry him away. 'Come, I`ll—' There were two dry snap shots, barely louder than a branch cutting through the air. Naruto went down before he could take another step, mostly on Gaara.

'Wow.' It was the only thing that could be heard after the fluttery sound. It was Shikamaru. And probably only because Kabuto couldn't really speak about his victory - his jaw locked in a strange shape made him more mute than he actually wished to be. All his excitement had flew with the crack of his bones and he decided he really had to have a break right now. To go to the doctor, for example. Gaara shouted something, unintelligent as Naruto fell on him, slowly getting back his features. Until he actually could do anything else, Yakushi caught him by his neck and got him near his, broken now, drawer and loaded quickly another syringe with one hand. He was used to such things. He practiced them in case if he was to become one-handed doctor one day. He was that weird.

Also, he was too unhappy now, so he had no mercy and just jammed the syringe into Gaara and left him panicked on the floor to go faint into the dark slumber. After that he rummaged quickly through his drawer to find a paper about menstruation cycle and gave it to Shikamaru in silence, nearly pushing the still shocked pair out of the door and snapped his fingers on Haku to wake the beautified boy up. They had to clean this mess and operate whatever was broken, including his jaw which was giving him hell of pain now. So good Sasori gave him a lesson about ignoring the weakness of the flesh so he could simply wait for Haku to dial the right number and in the meanwhile, he could repair some of the bones of Zabuza and Kakashi. The rest be damned. What a day.

On the other side of the door Temari was still too shocked to complain about being carried around like a little princess to complain about it or wonder how Shikamaru, normally a wimp that complained about her excess of weight like no tomorrow could carry her around with all her baby-added pounds as if she weighted no more than a feather.

'Shika. We are staying.' she told him seriously, her arms still wrapped around his neck. While she was there, she decided her burly wimp of a man looked very nice with his hair down, sweaty and carrying her like a princess. It was probably the shock and adrenaline talking, but she felt some making out had to take place. It would be a long time until Kabuto was good enough to go and even longer until the males of the pride woke up, and that beat gaping as a means of entertainment like nothing else. Until Neji arrived, that is.

'As you wish. We're laying.' Shikamaru repeated like an echo and, not minding the circumstances and actual meaning of the words, he just carried her away to their bedroom, still wielding that damned pencil and being deaf to any protests she could throw at him.

Once again… what's happened today?


	12. Dwanaście

Kankuro needed a therapy. For the first time he needed someone sane and calm to actually sit and listen to whatever he wanted to say, no other way around. Because this... this was madness.

'My brother is a woman.' he said, trembling and still a bit shocked, even if he had two days to subside it. 'He was a man and a man and a man and a man and suddenly BAM! He is a man who has pussy and uses femalish diapers to control himself. He never had a pussy before and now he has both. He can be father to his own child. Isn't life ironic?'

Silence. Kankuro moved to lean on the chair and look at the ceiling.

'And Naruto, this sweet candy-like Naruto is a freaking loon. He just went cuckoo on me and Kiba when we came to Temari's room which was covered in, hahaha, his menstruation blood. I don't know if I'd be here today if it wasn't for Kiba and his sudden reflex. Stupid douchebag, I wasn't asking for any protection! And now he is being moved out and I have to sit in one room with this creepy guy, Yorae or something like that. I swear, when he crackles his bones I hear them MOVING. I hate this.'

Another silence.

'And the blond almost killed more than twenty people. Because of some blood on the carpet that told him, somehow, that Gaara was DEAD. Can you believe that? And now he is crying all the time and locking himself in his room. Gaara isn't any better, he doesn't let anyone touch him and he is very unhappy. PMS or something. I have two sisters...'

Silence.

'I don't even want to think what's gonna happen now. Will he always have a pussy? How many eggs does he have there? Is he really waiting for someone to impregnate him? Pregnant brother, oh no, the image! I didn't say it, I definitely didn't say it!'

Silence.

'I need a beer.'

'Kid, by now I could use one, too.' The older man said, leaning back on a declinable chair and staring at the roof as well. 'Too bad we both have the same problem.'

Actually, Ibiki`s was a little bit worse than Kankuro's. His liver had actually turned to putty and had to be replaced about fifteen years ago. He'd had his reasons to drink like that, at the time, and when his liver decided to commit suicide while still inside his body, he'd found reasons to stop. Which didn't mean he didn't know better than actually starting.

'I can give you iced tea, if you want.' he offered distractedly, taking a sip of the sweetened beverage, not really tasting it. 'About twenty three peoplethat had had to be hospitalized, not counting Kabuto, Hatake and Zabuza. And they hadn't even tried to stop Naruto, they had just been on his way when he'd wanted to pass. He didn't want to think what would have happened if someone had actively tried to get on the way. Inuzuka takes his work seriously.' he said blandly, hinting the skinny brunet had three fractures over something like a sense of duty. Not that he wouldn't have done it if it were anyone else he didn't have a crush the size of the facility on, but it wouldn't have been for the same causes. 'Don't worry for him. He's used to getting roughed up, his sister told me he's going to be released soon, though I heard he's going to be reassigned. But I`m afraid I`m going to have to play nice old doctor and ask you how does this make you feel.'

Yes, Kankiro wanted iced tea. Anything could do, actually. Anything that made him sit still and told him to stay like that or else he would spill. A cup of tea would probably make this miracle. He was happy to have this offer. And he sipped it in silence.

Kiba Inuzuka - reassigned? He didn't know if it was the bad news or good. If Kiba got roughed up like that he'd probably be a bag of clattering, fragile bones soon. On the other hand - he was made to do this job. What a pity, huh. To be reassigned over the sense of duty you didn't even show to anyone. He sipped on his tea some more. The same problem, yeah?... That was an interesting fact. He would need to pester the old man about it later.

But now he had question to answer. He sipped some more and said: 'Like if my younger brother decided to become a transsexual hermaphrodite, that's how.'

He wasn't entirely truthful - he was feeling uneasy when Gaara just came to his room and changed his cunt-rags near him, which totally destroyed the idea of 'those days' for him and violated any of his future girlfriend's possible respect for her intimacy. And beside that - it was pretty screwed up, how he was supposed to feel? Like a main hero of Dali's portraits or what?

Ibiki poured him a glass and passed it to the brunet again.

'I'm asking outside the obvious. And not just about Gaara. Considering you are being so talkative today, let me ask you what are you looking for in relation with other human beings.' Ibiki leaned back, further on his chair, closing his eyes. 'You have to love your family very much to want to stick with them for so long. I know I would have gone running in the other direction a while ago… But you barely talk with your sister, talk even less with anyone else in here- and there's certainly enough for them for anyone to find at least someone they can relate to. The only people you ever actually interact with is Inuzuka, and its mostly him forcing you to it. And when you pet the fox boy, but you do that to shut him up, not because you actually want to touch him, right?'

'What am I searching in relationships in other people?' Kankuro snorted into his drink, then he started chuckling into his cup. What a nice question. So... philosophical, if he could say it like that. 'Life is a big, screwed up theatre.' he said slowly, looking at the floor 'And we all are actors. Like in Kabuki one's or in the one's with wooden puppets. Relationship is seeking for attention. The fucking publicity sitting near the scene.'

He laughed again quietly, drinking from his cup. He ignored the question about Naruto. What the hell talking about stroking some blond animal had to do with anything anyway?

'And I liked liquors here until the landlord decided to cut some people off it.' he added. The immortal talk about alcohols he couldn't have.

Well, the paint, the obsession with puppets... It made a lot more of sense.

'It's human to want attention. It's telling there isn't a big empty space where you are supposed to be. Even unborn babies do everything in their power to show they are there. Heh, you probably know enough about that already... Everyone has their own way. Your sister commands it, your brother is unnecessarily aggressive, Naruto pleads for it, Kiba annoys you for it, Hana Inuzuka is a perfect lady so everyone will know she is not like her psycho of a mother... Neji has this neat list of steps to follow and if you take a single step out of place, he'll probably have a nervous breakdown. Hatake reads porn in public, Umino tries to be something between a mother and a teacher to anyone he sees, regardless of age, gender of social status and Gai-… let's not talk about Gai.' Oh, the philosophical talks... made him ache for a cigarette and a scotch. 'It`s normal to want attention. It`s normal to want other people to know you exist. And be appreciated for it.'

'Have I said it's not normal?' answered Kankuro, looking at Ibiki like if he went a little off his cracker. Some things shouldn't have to be known, now he'll spend eternity wondering if they're all led by a psycho of pedantry 'I said it's a big scene and relationship is attention. Everyone is an actor. Everyone wants attention. It's normal and expected from an actor to want and seek attention, he lives from it, dammit. I'm not in big space, I'm just in a shitty position in a chain of events. And it's all awkward. All because of the attention. I'm just a retired actor. Let puppets speak for my actions, as actions speak louder than words.' And with that, Kankuro stood up and made the simplest ballet figure, which made a clear message: the world is a cuckoo and is not worth speaking to.

Or maybe: I'm a cuckoo and I don't want to talk about anything to the world.

Ibiki laughed and clapped.

'You just sound tired of it, kid. And no offense, but you are a bit too young to be so cynical.' he leaned back, propping his feet up on his desk, taking another sip of his tea. 'If you want, I'll tell you a story. Nothing good enough to make bestseller, but something that might help you, in the long run. Not that I'm expecting you to understand it right now, but why not...? You`ve surprised me before.'

'I'm just a random, grey passerby in the tons of patients you will ever meet, so don't think highly of me. I don't have high IQ or level of tolerance.' Kankuro sat in the chair again and hunched up, laying half of his body on his arms on the desk. 'But I have time, shoot. Maybe I will be enlightened by some unknown truths I never knew before or something like that...'

This is the story of my life, the lies I have created. Another tell-tale with a moral, and he was the Judas tutored by Jesus. He had his rights, unholy, stubborn rights to not give a damn but he knew savoir-vivre rules better than that.

'Kid, I was brought here specially for you. You are my only patient.' Ibiki stared at the younger boy seriously for several seconds, before smirking lightly. 'Story time, then. How old would you say I am?'

Kankuro quirked his eyebrow, but didn't do anything else than that. Especially for him? Then what the hell this man was doing on the rest of the days?

'I dunno.' he muttered, then shrugged 'Thirty seven, maybe? Probably younger.'

'Only about five years or so. Still, better than most… I'd be tempted to say you were being polite.' Even as he spoke to the younger boy, the older man reached up for his bandanna and took it off, leaving it on the on the table and discovering what was underneath. 'I'm sure you have figured out by now I'm not a psychologist, not even a psychiatrist. I'm also sure you have a pretty good idea what I did before ending up here, so I'm not even going to mention it. Suffice to say that by the time I was your age, I was the best at what I did, and I was damn proud of it.'

Kankuro's eyes widened at the sight - he suspected that the scars, that ran the man's face were ending somewhat up there, but he wasn't expecting... this. And damn, were those holes? Real holes?

Yes, they were. He went speechless. So, he was examined by a man who was specialized in tortures. No wonder, such guys usually knew how to search through a mind and take it out, no matter slouched down again and snorted.

'That damn Hyuuga' he muttered 'So he was such a harpagon he decided to get you instead of a real psychiatrist. Nice.' He looked at the unholy sight of scars and burns and has hidden hid head between his arms with a groan. 'I was not being polite. So what now, if I won't change after your whole change-the-kid program you're gonna use a chainsaw on me?'

Proud of what he did. When he was younger, he was proud of being alive. It didn't take much to one to be proud. Just a sense of winning, not logical reasons or surrounding.

'You'd rather he have given you someone who had just stuffed you with a rainbow of pills?' Ibiki rubbed his scalp lightly, not really feeling any of it. He had very little feeling on the abused skin covering his skull. 'Neji didn't even know me, I don't think he ever even saw me, and I work for his uncle. Kabuto was the one to recommend me, and you should be happy he did. In my experience, shrinks are people who just stand there and watch you burn yourself out while taking notes and nodding approvingly when appropriate.'

There was real anger there, underneath the almost joking dryness of his voice, something that didn't exactly hint his dislike of the professionals as much as broadcasted it in cinemascope.

'I've retired from that, anyway… Nowadays I'm more of a bodyguard thing, for the little girl. I'm not going to change you, either. You'd have to want to change for that, and I can't make you that, even if I wanted to. And I don't really think you need to change. You are a surprisingly balanced kid, all things considered. Some perspective might help. And a little less make up.'

'Hey, my makeup is perfectly fine! And it's not make up by the way, it's a PAINT ON MY FACE. It's artistic!'Kankuro responded immediately, shooting an offended glare and pouted (which he did only occasionally and not always when he had an occasion).'I don't know, maybe some pills would help me sleep like a stone and I would not see half of the things I see nowadays here. If I'm not a nut, then everyone else here is insane - even Kabuto and that little girl. Hanabi is a murderer on a leash, I assure you.'

He stopped, then groaned again, twirling on his chair like a little kid.

'If you can't help me then what the hell am I doing here! Waste of time! My views are perfectly clear and nothing is gonna change them, and especially not the fact you're a retired sadist. I don't even see the point of mentioning it, actually.' He stopped twirling around and grabbed the rest of his tea drinking it like if he wanted to just shut himself up and not talk anymore. And that was what he exactly wanted to do.

'Hehe, of course she is. Why do you think I was assigned to her and not the little heiress?' said Ibiki. He was the leash. 'But don't you wonder why Kabuto recommended me, when there are so many active interrogation members who should be attention to little white eyed girls?'

'You get paid with cancer sticks and Neji is a harpagon so he likes that?' Kankuro grumbled, having no idea.

'Hmm, cancer sticks.' The man opened a drawer, rummaged through it, and when he came up empty handed, started looking through a second one.'As I was saying… My younger brother and I were on the same facility, but in different divisions. He managed the data, I extracted it...' the older man grimaced slightly, as if he'd tasted something bitter. '…and all was fine and good for a long while. I had money, I was respected, I had a girl—everything anyone would have wanted. Then one day these funny men came to my home, beat the living shit out of me, nearly killed my girl and then dragged me to this funny little room that was so familiar I could have sworn I worked in it.'

He finally found the unopened package of cigarettes and ripped it open with his teeth, extracting one and tossing the package away. Then started looking around for the lighter.

'It turned out my dear baby brother had been two timing the people I worked for and had disappeared with very important data. Needless to say, these funny men that had me in that room wanted to know where my brother was. I didn't know it at the time –I had a few ideas of where he might be, but I knew what funny men like these would have done to Idate if they ever found out where he was - so I didn't tell them a thing. So the funny men decided to be oh so funny with me until I told them what they wanted. They had loads and loads of fun until one day, they just let me go.'

He finally found the lighter hiding beneath a small blue agenda that had been lying open over the cluttered desk and stared at the flame for a moment before using it to lit his cancer stick.

'I spent a lot of time in the hospital after that, by the time I was good to go, I was reasonably sure I wasn't being trailed I did my best to find Idate… But I never found him.' Ibiki took a deep drag, letting the bitter smoke coat his lung and decided this was the only one he'd have during the session. He didn't smoke that much, but they weren't outside, and there were no windows.

'He'd been hiding at some little nowhere backwater town, where we used to go as kids. My parents had a house there… It was a mess. Blood everywhere. I suppose they buried him somewhere close, but I didn't have time to check. Had to leave before someone saw me or the funny men decided to get funnier and frame me.'

Ibiki flickered the consuming ash on his cigarette, then put it to his mouth again, his expression unusually serious. 'And that, kid, is how the story starts. Just keep in mind this is the nice part.'

Kankuro looked at him weirdly. He could tell it was not going to be a nice story and indeed it was not nice, though Ibiki softened it for him on some parts. He felt a little cold at the idea that Temari could have died back then and thanked gods for giving him no sense of reasoning when it came to helping her or she'd probably bleed out before he could reach her. Then he remembered the people Gaara killed when he was very unstable and felt uneasy. He didn't have to vomit, like he had to when the idea was still fresh in the back of his mind, but... he felt a little green.

He looked at Morino and wondered where it was leading. It didn't even answer the question properly, it just came out that Ibiki was not paid with cigarettes. Which was good, because that was a really bad brand and Kankuro wished he really just stopped smoking them. But he couldn't blame him for what he was saying.

'I believe it's the funny part. Full of rainbows and unicorns. Where's the bad one?' he asked, not changing his position, but keeping his eyes on the man in front of him. Ibiki smiled, closing his eyes again. It wasn't a particularly happy smile.

'So there I was, at the ripe age of twenty six: my only brother likely hacked off to pieces and buried God knows where, my girl had a nervous breakdown the moment she saw what they'd done to me (a creep or not, Kabuto is a master of plastic surgery, but the time there wasn't very much to work with…) and even if they hadn't left me like Jason after a frat party, she would have left me anyway after what they did to her. My mother would call and ask to see me and I'd tell her I was busy. Which I was, but not with work.'

Drag, inhale. Exhale.

'I couldn't work anymore. Then she'd ask for Idate and I'd tell her he was even busier, and then I'd start hoping she'd die soon so I wouldn't have to tell her what happened. I'd see her in the ID of the phone and think _Please dear God, be nice and make her have a heart attack before she decides to come have a visit. Just a little heart attack and I can burn her off and spread the ashes to the wind and be over with this_. But I picked the phone anyway and told her that her younger son was on a trip, that he was out in a date, that he was rising a yellow submarine with the Beatles—I told her anything I could think of, just so she'd be satisfied and stop calling for a little while, so I could stop thinking about it for a little while. And like most people who don't want to think about things what do you think I did?'

Kankuro looked at the shining surface of the desk, then back again at Ibiki. He really didn't think he had to guess here.

'Got a booze and drank till you barfed more than you weight.' That really sounded like a breakdown, and no wonders, he'd probably try running away from home or drowning the phone if it pressured him like that.

'That and get high. People wanted me to get back to the job, but I couldn't. And I didn't want them to get persuasive, either, so I left. I spent the following two years somewhere between the stratosphere and waking up to bloody noses and the fine taste of stomach lining in my mouth. All the money I had was gone by the end of year one, and I did the most mechanic and manual jobs I could so I could afford more of the stuff. I knew I was addicted, but I didn't care. I wanted to be on this bright little pony for as long as I could because I knew if I stopped long enough to sober, not only would it feel like hell, but I'd have to remember, and then I'd have to think about it, and accept it. And I couldn't do that.'

He finally finished the cigarette, leaned in to put it out, then leaned back. The acrid scent of the cigarette still remained, despite the air conditioner.

'But I got found anyway. By no one other than myself. Have you ever had a blackout, kid?'

Kankuro looked briefly at the ceiling, checking if there was something interesting there. There wasn't. 'After mad drinking for a few weeks, I forgot we had a car.' he said and shrugged 'Nothing big, happened only once and I would probably stay like that if Temari hadn't reminded me that I don't have to walk by foot everywhere because we have it. And we probably still have it. Somewhere. I don't know, I never really remembered where I saw it last.' Then he looked at Ibiki like if he was sucking on a very bitter candy. 'But I suppose it's nothing compared to yours.'

'Not that I'd enjoy making a competition of this, but no, I doubt it. I blacked out pretty often, I didn't really care. Sometimes a few minutes, sometimes a few days. I'd wake up without knowing where I was, but that didn't really matter, it wasn't as I was supposed to *be* anywhere, and after a while you ended up knowing almost without looking where to get the stuff you needed. Sometimes I'd wake up and think I should do the world a favor and kill myself, but then I'd think I wanted to be really wasted when I did it and go drink or snort something and I'd wake up later and start all over again.'

The older man reached up and fingered a different kind of scar he had on the side of his head.

'No, I didn't care at all. Until one day, instead of waking up in a pile of my own waste, I woke up in a cell. Not the funny men kind, but the law and enforcement one. I had blacked out for almost three days. Sometime in between I'd shot a kid.'

'A kid?' Kankuro repeated after him like an echo, not closing his mouth after he said it. For a moment. Then he relocked his jaw and looked at the floor with his usual, indifferent stare. There wasn't anything interesting on the floor also, not that he did care. 'At least you weren't haunted by its face in the moment of when you shot it.' He spoke quietly, but his words were now louder than a machine gun to him. So he didn't tell more. That wouldn't change anything. Conditioner buzzed like an enormous group of lazy bees in the background. He barely heard it.

'I guess not. Not that I could remember my face, by then, but that probably was a small blessing. What haunted me was thinking why did I do it. I don't even know where I'd gotten the gun. At that particular moment I doubt I would have remembered what my name was if my life depended on it. Don't ask me how I found the kid, or what could a twelve-year-old brat have done to get me going. Supposedly, I drank so I wouldn't care, so what could he have said that would make me care so much to get me going?' The large man shrugged, sighing deeply. 'The kid was alive, but barely. I'd shot him twice – I'd shot him a lot more, but I wasn't a particular proficient shooter in my state- On the neck and shoulder blade. I was transferred to prison a week or so later. I`d OD by day two in.'

Kankuro didn't comment on that. He just sat there, staring at the floor, thinking. Or rather, not doing that. His head was void of everything. He didn't want to THINK what the kid had to do it to trigger a man in his state. He had an idea, but he didn't want to go by it. His mind was troubled enough already. Or that kid...

'They patched me up and sent me back there. A little after, mi enforced deintoxication gave me nice little case that medics like to refer as `cirrhosis`, and I like to think as my liver trying to become alcohol, while still inside my body. Rubbing alcohol, possibly mixed with acid. I'm not going to bore you with all the symptoms, as I'm sure you had them listed to give you a scare, but trust me: they just sound fancy. The worst of is feeling like if your ass is trying to crawl out of your body and imagining your organs screaming `This is for all you did to me, this is for what you did, motherfucker`!'

He made a grab for the cigarette box, then seemed to think it better, and put it back in one of his drawers.

'…organs take revenge seriously. One of the doctors seemed to think I was missing a few ducklings in the line and that's how I ended in a neuropsychiatric. I spent about eight months feeling like I was drowning in the world's biggest lava lamp from the pills they gave me and being so happy I nearly ate my knuckles while sprouting bullshit about this and that. And the shrinks would just _hmm_ and nod appropriately and ask me bullshit like if my mother breastfed me, if I'd only had black crayons and these kind of things.'

Pause.

'Then I got released, so I guess the things I made up for the unmentionables was so good they bought it or they didn't care. I'm betting on the latter. They said I was fine, stamped me over and let me out. By then I still had a prescription and was in the gooiest part of the lava lamp, so I didn't think to stop and wonder why I hadn't gone back to jail. I was too busy being happy. I was so happy I shot myself.'

Kankuro still stared at the floor, his jaw unlocked and eyes wide opened. If he held something he'd probably drop it on the floor. His muscles just weakened. How much tragedy can one man take and yet, live? Were they still not at the bottom of it?

'Who gave you a gun?' he mouthed faintly, not feeling strength to speak louder than a dying mouse. 'How...' The rest of sentence died on the way through his vocal chords.

'I got it myself. Two years before it had been my job to know where to get those things, remember…?' He shrugged apathetically, then turned and showed him the different scar on the side of his head, around the height of his eye. 'I bounced right off, and I even had to cure it myself when I woke up. I didn't want to have to explain what I had been trying to do and get even more treatment, or tell anyone my life was such a disaster that I couldn't even kill myself. And to tell the truth, by then I was scared I couldn't die. When I woke up I sincerely thought I couldn't. See, I had this little idea I deserved everything that was happening to me and that I wasn't allowed to die until whomever had the dibs felt like I was done paying.'

Another pause. Silence.

'I was too scared to do anything because I kept wondering what would come next. I'd have nightmares that you are probably better off not knowing, but the highlight was I didn't want to live anymore and I was too scared to try to kill myself again.' Ibiki took a deep breath, drank what was left of his tea and slumped back on his chair, swiveling it in Kankuro's direction. 'That's the worst part, and it's over. Do you want me to tell you how I got out of all of that?'

'If it wouldn't be too much to ask of.' Kankuro never really cared for happy endings, but when he had one, he liked to know what he missed. And the last piece of puzzles was sitting just before his own very eyes, so it was obvious that this story led to a nice, or at least - peaceful conclusion.

'My liver finally had enough and decided to die completely. I went to the hospital again, only a fancy one this time. I'd been found, but by the Hyuugas this time. Back then they wouldn't have let me with their perfect little princess, but they still wanted me to do things, so they wanted me to get better. I tried to tell them the best thing they could do for humanity was let me die, but you know how they are. Most weren't really that bad people, especially the older princess, but almost without exception, they fully believed God had put them there to show the world how things got done. As far as they cared there were two ways to do things. The bad way and the Hyuuga way.' The man had smiled knowingly. Kankuro shyly responded with the same expression. Yes, he knew what it was all about.'I got a transplant and real disintoxication. It took much longer than I expected, but I guess I had a lot of shit needing to get cleaned out of my system.'

Another shrug.

'Either way, by the time I could pee by my own means, they assigned me a counselor. His name was Sarutobi, but he could have been called Jesus of Arimathea and I wouldn't have wanted to talk to him just the same. I'd had enough of shrinks and feeling like if I was swimming in cotton and syrup. I didn't need any more shrinks. I still got him, though, and I guess I wouldn't be here if I hadn't.'

'He was that good?' Kankuro asked, though he didn't have to. He saw a living proof sitting in front of him.

'He was the best, but not for the reasons you think. He was just an old doctor that had retired and stayed in the hospital to talk to people like me, I guess. He was a good person.'

Damn, he really missed the old man.

'I'm not gonna tell you all we talked about. I would like to, but I don't think it would help you much, and it was a long time ago, and most I've forgotten. I didn't want to talk to him, but he made me talk anyway. And I was just tired, you know? I guess I wanted to stop thinking. If I didn't talk, he'd tell me stuff himself. About his family, about his grandson- he's a good kid. I still see him sometimes. But the thing is he did get me talking.'

The older male trailed off, apparently lost in his thoughts, then turned his gaze on the younger boy.

'I want you to think about what I've told you, and about what's happened to you. I know you haven't told me everything that you did or you had to do, but I know it's eating you inside. Just think about it and tell me the truth: Do you think you deserve to be happy?'

Kankuro twitched. He looked at Ibiki like if he saw him for the first time in his life.

'What?' he asked in disbelief, looking at him in astonishment 'Do I deserve to be happy?' For a moment, Kankuro froze with the same mimic on his face. 'DO I deserve to BE HAPPY?' he repeated, this time louder, something of a shy smile showing around his lips 'Oh gods, no, no, no, oh no...' He curled into a ball, while his quiet 'no's became small barks of a choked sound.

Ibiki let the brunet be for about a minute, but no longer than that. He still had a lot of things to say, and Kankuro had a tendency to get things the wrong way if left alone for too long.

'That's what I thought. Back then, too, when he asked me. I was fresh out of the operation, feeling like a waste of humanity and thinking how many people were dying for a liver and all I'd done to get it was take up space in the world. I thought he was accusing me, actually. Kind of like if he were the one asking me if I deserved a second chance… third, fourth.'

He waited another moment to let the brunet finish composing himself, then continued.

'I told him that no, that I didn't think I deserved it. Then he laughed and told me I was the most arrogant bastard he'd ever met.' He chuckled lightly at the memory of his own jaw-slacked face. 'He tells me who the hell did I think I was to decide that the higher powers that be, whoever they are, hated me. Then he started talking, and I guess I might have still be high on the morphine, because I let him talk. He told me something, which I really hope helps you, because it did help me. Not back then, but eventually, it did.'

He could still remember the old, kind face, the funny hairdo and the odd and very unpleasant odor of whatever the old man had smoked.

'I'm not going to bore you with the theological view, just with what I think. Everyone is here for a reason. Absolutely everyone. You can be as self-hating, as masochistic as you want, but you are here now for a reason. All that happened to you is not a test, is not punishment. It's what you and your own decisions brought onto yourself. No God told your brother to sell information when he knew the consequences, and it wasn't your responsibility he did. Each one has to be responsible for their own decisions, and to try and blame yourself for other's is arrogant.'

_The old man was sitting on a chair next to his hospital bed and he kept talking. And for some bizarre reason he kept listening- actually *listening* to what he was saying, because even if he knew the man was wrong, he couldn't stop himself. _

'_The things you did are condemnable, but you are not the same person anymore. I'm not telling you to be kind or merciful, it's just what I see. I'm not sure you are even a person anymore, but more of a ghost of it. The only thing you own is your own life, and for some reason you are ruining it.'_

'I told him I wanted to die. That I was tired of what I'd done and what I'd seen and what I had to live with. I told him I was scared of the world not wanting to let me die until I was done paying. I told him everything I had promised myself I wouldn't.'

Another chuckle.

'Old man just stared at me and told me if I'd wanted to die, I would have killed myself. He asked me why I bought a .22, when I knew they were small ammo, instead of something that would leave my brains feng-shuing the wallpaper. He told me that people want to live, even when they think they don't. Then he left, and I had to stay there and think about it, because those aren't the kind of things you can't tell yourself didn't happen and you didn't hear. In a way it was worse, because I think I had expected things to go wrong. I had expected my life to be a disaster, but not that I might still want to live it, or that I might still be allowed to live it. And I was scared of what would happen if I tried.'

'I see.' said Kankuro and looked at him like if he didn't see him at all. 'How did you got to enjoy your life after all that?'

Ibiki thought about the question, and slowly straightened, his impressive built cracking lightly after being still for too long.

'I don't think I'm enjoying it. Even now. I try to, but it's not easy. I still have to live with all I did. I still remember things I wish I didn't, and there is nothing that I can do that will erase them. But I want to try. I have to, if not for me, for the things I did. Or the kid I shot. Or because the old man, for some reason, thought I was worth a damn and didn't want me to die.' He smiled lightly at the other. 'Ready for another question, courtesy of old man, philosopher of all times?'

Kankuro still looked at him like if he was staring at something that was not here in this room. probably the post images from the Ibiki's memories.

'What question?' he asked 'There's more?'

'Quite... You are walking on the street and see a person about to jump a bridge, not ten feet away from you. What would you do? This is another serious question, so please; tell me what you really think you would do. Not that you would like to do or what you think you should do. What you would.'

'I'd probably run to him and push him over because I like when my view is not interrupted by any obstacles. How the hell am I supposed to know that? Do you think I've met someone like that before or what?' asked Kankuro, clear astonishment written on his face.

Ibiki stared at the younger boy, shaking his head slowly. Kankuro wouldn't do that, and he knew it. The kid probably knew it himself, but that was something he'd have to figure out for himself.

'I had to think this one for a little time, before answering. I didn't want to, either, but I wanted to know what he would think of my answer, if it`d make his opinion change. I told him I'd drag the bastard or bitch down and probably beat the shit out of them. Not very psychological, but that's what I sincerely felt I would do at that moment. Old man stared at me, lit his goddamn pipe and said _And scream at them `Why are you doing this? Your life can't be that bad, It can't be worse than mine, why are you doing this, you can't make it easy when I can't, when it's never been easy for me. You don't have a right to make it easy when I don't`?_" "And the thing is that I don't know if I would have been screaming that, I don't know if I'd be thinking something so… articulate. But that's how I would feel, you know…?'

'No, I don't.' The 't' of the word 'don't' was nearly bitten by Kankuro, while he looked at the floor again.

He trailed off, not quite there at the moment, either, but remembering things so vividly as if Sarutobi were right next to him and talking. He finally shrugged.

'Either way, that angered me too. Who the hell did he think he was to try to tell me how I should live my life, or talk as if he understood what I'd gone through? How could he talk about things I didn't even know how to think myself when he wasn't me? That's when I started talking. I guess after all I did want to hear I had another chance, even if most of what I did was try to counter what he told me. He had very particular views of life. He didn't mind expanding on them, either. He said life gave everyone something. Both good and bad things, and that people chose what kind of things to take. Bad things might happen, but the possibility for good was still there, even within the bad things you had to swallow. It was people who cornered themselves and chose to look at the bad things. _Being miserable isn't hard at all._ He'd say _But being content is not that complicated, either._ It's all in the human mind. What makes having a brand new porche that much more wonderful than knowing your kidneys are working? That was an easy question to someone that had spent the past year with a liver threatening to carve its way out of your stomach: because the person's kidneys were fine. The moment they started failing he'd probably be willing to hack the thing he sold his mother for two pieces for a bit a painkiller. _Because that's human nature_. he said. _Humans are the only creatures in this world able to measure what makes something valuable based solely on how much you suffer to get them. _That's the kind of thing old man Sarutobi liked to talk about. Needless to say, I wished he got run over by a monster truck very often. Never heard of the phrase _When life gives you lemons, make lemonade_?` Personally, I would have liked to take salt and tequila to go with it, but after all that had happened, I was a little attached to my new liver to put it past the other had gone through. _And what do you do when life gives you shit?_ The bastard laughs and tells me. _Wipe yourself off the best you can, of course. Would you go around covered in shit?_'

Kankuro smiled, and crossed his arms, leaning on the chair.

'What, do you expect me to react, or something?' he asked, visibly amused.

'No, but I'm glad to see you can appreciate the wonders of the man`s sense of humor better that I did… Kabuto finally finished fixing me so I look remotely human, and I was finally free to go and start working. I didn't really feel like if I could, but I didn't really want to stay either. I was angry and hurt over the fact someone else wanted to tell me how to live my life, and I was angry at myself for starting to doubt if he was right or not.' Reaching across the table, the older man grabbed the ashtray and emptied on the bin, clearing the bits of cigarette still on it.

'I left. I started working as security. I didn't drink, I didn't do drugs, and the world didn't explode. I didn't do much of anything, to tell the truth, it was just a way I had of existing. Some days I felt like if I was standing still and the world was the only thing moving, but I still didn't do anything. I guess even someone as stubborn and scared as me finally had enough of being something and not someone and I started trying to do more. Things got better. I would like to make things better for other people. Gai and Kakashi are insufferables, but I'm glad they are my friends. I would like to help Hanabi to see away from what her family and her father had turned her into. I would like to know someone as sweet as foxy is going to get better and find a way to never do that again, and I would like to be able to make Hana and Kiba leave their mother. I would like to see you get better, and not to pay for anything I've done. Not for being selfless, not for being nice. Those things are done and over with, and nothing I do can ever affect them. I want to help other people because I like them and I want to know they are well. But I can't do any of those things for them.'

The man reached across the table and touched the top of the brunet's head for a moment, ruffling lightly.

'I didn't tell you all of this to compare myself to you, or make you think what I did gives me a right to give you my opinion. I know your life is yours, and I know you had to do and see… and stand things that might or not have been better or worse than mine. But they were things that happened to you, not me. I told you something that was mine because I hope it might help you someday. Your life is yours, and the only one who really knows what you can do is yourself, but for all that matters, I really hope you might think you deserve to be happy someday. I hope you'll want to try, and that when you do, it'll be just for yourself.'

Kankuro didn't move at the touch. He only smiled at him even wider.

'Are you done?' he said in an unamused voice 'I hope you are. You know what did this blabber do to me? Now I need a beer. And a shot of gin. And rum. And a bottle of vodka. No, two. Or three. Or the one big fucking spaceship of it. And you didn't even tell me how much are you paid for this shit. Mind telling me now?'

Ibiki smiled lightly, removing his hand and leaning back.

'The same way I`ve been getting paid for as long as I`ve been here. Bed, food and not telling the feds who I really am.'

'Nice to know the price of my sanity. Bed, food and not telling the feds who you are. I guess you repay yourself with what you do here. Had fun?' This time Kankuro's face was not happy anymore. if anything, he sounded more than angry. 'Much of it? Because I had loads. Tons and gallons, until I saw you're doing what you're paid for. Your job. Tell me, am I a successful example of how mindfuckery works? Did I get an A plus, doc?' And now he was beginning to scream. No, he wasn't happy anymore. If anything, he was unamused like hell.

'And you're an idiot of a worker, I've been sitting here for more than twenty minutes, staring at the wall and ignoring your manipulations and all you did was talking, talking, talking. Are you really a professional in any of those things you said? Or maybe those scars are reminders that you actually aren't and Neji just waved me off with whoever he found because he couldn't just throw me out like a trash to a garbage can!'

And now he was yelling. Sitting on a chair was enough. He sat there, counted dots on a wall and listened to some fairy tales of a broken liver, some irky grandpa and all that stuff and wondered where exactly the path changed from something believable to a Jesus' story with a twisted moral for kids who decided to believe in those. Help, of course. Professional, suuure. Only for him. A lost cause. Always a lost cause. Why was this happening to him? He didn't do anything wrong to those people! Why was he sitting here and not his psycho brother who would just go by any manipulation?

If life gives you lemons... like if he knew how to chop a fruit! He wanted to kick something for being so stupid and for believing that maybe someone or anyone at all was willing to listen, for having faith in this dead, broken theatre, but it was all the same. He wanted to punch something for this, wanted to bite anything, but because he couldn't he stood up and banged his hands on a wooden desk. Fuck.

'You know what? When I came here I had a problem with my menstruating brother, wounded people and me not being able to drink anything! Now I'm having a problem of trusting anyone at all and I actually don't give a damn anymore about what's going to happen now! I've been thoroughly fucked with, I feel sick, I feel tired and I feel so goddamn unhappy that I want to go to a fucking bridge and push the goddamn man from it just to see how long it will take me to go down there! I'm unhappy, angry and I don't see my future nor this world moving or unmoving!'

His throat and lungs hurt from the ominous screaming now, but he stopped caring.

'I just want to sit down, carve down my liver and have a blackout of a lifetime! Well done, doc! You fucked me up so much I'm just gonna go now and rob people of their alcohol to have some peace! Question for one million of dollars: are you happy now? Are you? Damn you, if you are, but hell, what can I say? I've been the one fucked here, not the other way around! Cool?' He stopped screaming after the 'cool' word, because as cool as it sounded, his throat went hoarse. And he really didn't have so much strength to be angry. He just was in pieces, undone, not working and fallen.

'Why am I screaming, it's not like such a liar would feel guilty over me or something...' he whispered and turned his back to Morino. 'I won't be coming again, forget I existed.'

Ibiki let the boy rant, let him scream all he wanted. God knew he needed it, because keeping all that shit down wasn't doing the boy any wonders, but he had a last thing to add.

'You know perfectly well I do want to help you. You can tell yourself that all you want, but you know what I told you is true. Do you want to see the scars of my operations? Will seeing the marks drugs leave make you feel better? I'm not doing this for anyone but you. I could have simply sat down and take notes and fucking nod and still get the same, so why the hell would I try?'

He got up, trying back his bandanna in place, almost as if what was under had never really happened.

'And you know other people care for you, but don't want to acknowledge it because if they get taken away, you don't know what you will do. I care for what happens to you and I want to help you. Tell yourself whatever you want, but don't tell others things you don't believe yourself.'

'I'm not falling for it.' Kankuro blocked out everything that was said to him. Possibly it was something important or maybe believable, but executioners were masters at those. And he had enough of this. 'As I said, I'm not coming here again.' The door were unlocked. He opened them and he just knew he won't make it to any alcoholic stance. He felt too defeated. He decided to go to his own room, lie down and stay like that until gods decide he had to do something else. 'Goodbye.'

He didn't get too far before bumping into something that let out a high pitched yip of surprise. Finally having been driven out of the room by hunger, Naruto had pretty much sneaking around to the kitchen so he could steal something to eat, nothing but a bright flash of yellow that the cameras could barely catch. Naruto fell to the floor and stared up at Kankuro's face, distorted with the way the makeup had ran and his eyes widened and welled with tears.

He could have killed Kankuro two days ago. Kiba was in the hospital because of him, and he could have hurt Temari and Shika, he'd hurt so, so many people and he didn't, didn't want to know what the people he loved so much thought about him. He didn't want to see them look at him and call him monster and be afraid of him. Even Gaara hated him. Everyone hated him. He whimpered and curled on the opposite wall; drawing his knees to his face and hiding in them, hands digging on his hair and shoulders shaking.

'—'

Kankuro looked at him, still shaken from his own experience and wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to ignore the thing as he usually did, but this time Naruto looked so psychotic he decided to react. 'Stop it, Naruto.' he muttered in annoyed tone 'Nobody died, everyone forgave you and you're acting like a fucking loon. I'm the one who is supposed to be a nutcase, you know.'

The younger boy flinched as if struck, a very human sob escaping him as he curled even more on himself. No, he hadn't killed anyone… But he could have. He could have, so very easily and Kankuro didn't know that at the moment, if it had happened, he wouldn't have cared. If he'd hit Zabuza on the back of his head instead of his side, his brains would probably still being removed from it. If he'd hit Kabuto on his nose instead of jaw, his forebrain would have turned to jelly. And If he'd used his claws instead of fists…

'Who the hell are you? Go away from me!' Naruto cried.

'Oh jeez.' Kankuro looked at Naruto in helplessness and wondered why did he have to endure such people. There was no worse medicament for depression than other depressed people. He looked at the ceiling and sighed dramatically, rising up his arms and letting them fall down in a one heavy movement. Just his luck. 'Somebody must hate me up there.' he murmured to himself and did what he thought was best for all of them - he left the blond without further comments and went down to his younger bro... something's room. He went in without knocking. It didn't really matter if he knocked or not, if Gaara didn't want him there, he'd kick him out despite the fact of he was on this or other side of the door.

Gaara sat in the corner with knees curled up and looked at the wall as if it called him names now and then. His usually stoic mimic was now changing without a sign and it made quite a show for anyone who sat close by, if angry and sad faces could be funny. But to Kankuro it looked like anything like those. He moved closer. After fourth step he got hit.

'Ow! What the hell?' he exclaimed, getting the thing out of his face 'What was th- EEEW! Gaara! How could you throw a sanitary pad at me! And it's all bloody! Temari told you to throw it out, didn't she?'

'So what.' was the cold murmur 'My blood, my room and my rules. If I want, I'll collect it. And you're here without permission. What do you want.'

'I'm your older brother, would it hurt to be nice for once-'

'Speak up or get out, my stomach hurts!'

Kankuro sighed, lowering his head and shaking it, like a broken doll. This was hopeless.

'You're so nice to Temari, why can't you be nice to me too?'

'Cause you're stupid and useless and I don't give a damn for a trash.' Kankuro's face fell down even more. He knew that before, of course, but hearing that said out loud was a totally different matter. It hurt. 'Why are you still here?'

Kankuro twitched, remembering that Gaara had a short span of attention. He looked at Gaara through bleary eyes and coughed to cover his lack of attention.

'It's Naruto.' he said, looking at the wall on the left. Nothing interesting there, just a faded picture of some unknown people 'He is going nut in a corner, cries and so on, so I guessed you'd want to know.' That got Gaara's attention. He slowly got up, holding on his stomach, then he threw off the bottle with hot water and came closer to Kankuro.

'Lead the way.'


	13. Tretton

They walked in silence. Gaara was limping behind him, obviously in pain - Kankuro could only imagine what he was going through, male body was not accustomed to things like period. And if his family was anything that could provide some information, cramps were nasty in female line there. So no wonder. But maybe it was just insides getting accustomed to a growing uterus. Bah. He thought too much about it...

'Here we are.' he said, when a blond boy was showing in the range of their vision 'I led you here, I was useful-'

'You're useless. You didn't comfort him, right?'

'...and how was I supposed to do that to not have you gnawing my eyes out later?' Gaara looked at Kankuro like if there was something annoying running around him. A fly or some other flying worm. That was enough for him. 'I'm just gonna go, bye.'

Gaara didn't bother to wave back. It wasn't important. What was important now, his baby was hurt. And it suffered. He really didn't have strength for dealing with that and his body irked to shy away from the touch, but he got closer and called out softly to not scare him.

'Why are you crying, baby?' he asked, even if he knew, deep down there, what was it all about 'You're hurting my heart...'

Naruto had calmed a bit when he sensed Kankuro left, but he continued to cry. It was a sad thing to say, but the blond was the most emotionally healthy person in the whole facility. Naruto had grown completely alone, with only scientists examining him and providing information. The things he read in books couldn't always be accounted as real, as fiction had been explained to him, but Naruto was fairly simple in that aspect: he was sad, he cried, he was happy, he laughed. No one had told him boys shouldn't cry and sometimes crying did make him feel a bit better.

That wasn't the case now. It was one thing to be scared of what others could do to you, but another completely to what you could do to others. He'd never, ever hurt anyone… Naruto had always been a fairly agreeable subject, always trying to be nice to the lab scientists even though they made painful test sometimes. He didn't like testing any more than Gaara did, but he never complained and bore with Kabuto`s poking and prodding docilely.

He did it because he liked where he was now. He didn't want to go outside if people were bad persons that threw things to you and hurt (mate) Gaara just because the older boy was confused. He wanted to stay were people smiled at him and petted him and there was so many people to talk with… but he'd ruined it. He'd hurt them, and now he might get kicked out… Neji had tried to talk to him, but Naruto hadn't let him, covering his ears and crying hysterically until Gaara drove him away or the brunet left himself. He didn't want to hear Neji telling him they were going to give him away, or return him where he'd been, or whatever they did with people they didn't want anymore.

And he'd also done something to Gaara… helped do something bad to Gaara- something to cause the dead blood on him. Shikamaru had tried to explain it to him, but Naruto hadn't let him, either. All he knew was that Gaara was hurting and there was dead blood on him and he was at least partially responsible, if not fully. The baby wouldn't hurt Gaara on purpose. Not that he would, but babies shouldn't be held responsible for things they didn't know better. And no matter how much Gaara insisted on calling him a baby, he knew he wasn't one.

Naruto visibly ignored him, still being in his own world of his own thoughts. He decided to come even closer and touched his shoulder in a gentle manner. He was told he was hot, but he himself didn't feel the change. He only hoped that it didn't hurt his ball of sunshine more. Or ball of a running down water and rain.

'Cub, look at me.' he demanded with louder volume. 'I can't talk to your back.'

'I`ll do it.' Ibiki had gone out, deciding it was time to go pick Hanabi from training. If he let her to her own devices too long, the girl would either kill herself with extortion, or get so riled up she might seriously hurt her opponents. He wasn't sure what Hanabi wanted to prove the world, but at least she responded well to him. As for Kankuro… A pause in therapy might help. Thinking time, as they called it. Whitey wouldn't interrupt him the way Kiba would, either, he just hoped the kid would eventually start thinking about what he'd told him.

As for foxy… he didn't know why the boy was so shaken over something that had been hotwired into his genes. Gaara never reacted like this. Naruto was practically traumatized by what he'd done. Easily picking up the small frame –blond laid deathly still on his grip, only his sniffles letting him know he wasn't really playing dead- and turned to Gaara.

'Where do you want me to take him?'

Gaara looked at Ibiki warily. Then he got his attention on Naruto, and bit on his lower lip, disturbed and indecisive. If he'd have animal's ears he'd probably lay them down.

'Bed.' he answered. Bed always cured sick people and always helped in problems - one had to sleep them off. And it was nicer than cold tiles in corridors.

The scarred man nodded, moving with the boy's scant weight (scant for Ibiki, that is) and motioned for the boy to lead the way, despite knowing perfectly well where the room was. He was surprised Gaara let him touch Naruto at all.

'You come, too. You are barefoot and the cold is going to make you hurt worse. Has anyone given you ibuprofen?'

'Ibu-what?' He swore he heard the word somewhere. Probably Temari, who wanted to stuff him with strange chemical pills. But if there was anything he didn't want, it was chemical stuff - it tasted bad, smelled bad and it was always bad for him. In the past it was always a bad thing - every second day a pill, blue one, yellow one, small one, big one, drops, circles, squares, liquid, transparent... He'd be damned if he'd let those things near him, especially in his state. He looked at Ibiki even more warily, not really trusting where it was going. Who was he? He saw him around sometimes, but he didn't really remember if he was a worker here or not. And that was really suspicious.

He let him walk a few more steps, and when he saw the doors of his own room, he crossed his path and got a hold on Naruto.

'Let him go. Now.' he growled in a warning, seething through his teeth at the giant man.

The man did as told without a comment, not even seeming to notice the threat the other was. 'Ibuprofen. It's an anti-inflammatory. It will make the pain go away for about six hours.'

'One pain away, two new to fight.' Because it was like that with those pills also. Made some things stop and brought new along. He didn't know what anti-influ... inplum... influmy was, but he didn't want to try it. He cradled the blond into his arms, licking his forehead with care while still eyeing the man warily. Was it all right to turn around and go? He never knew how to behave with those insignificant ones. He looked like something big that could attack if he turned around.

Ibiki stared at Gaara for a second, before chuckling lightly.

'You and your brother are really alike, you know?' The smart-assy response, the petulant look that said `I know better`… yep. Really the same. Apparently all Sabakus were stubborn bastards. 'If you do want some, let me know. A bath might help, too. Take care of foxy.'

Lifting a hand in a parting gesture, the man turned around and disappeared down one of the aisles leading to the training rooms. Naruto tried to struggle out of the redheads arms as soon as the other person that had been carrying him let go- heavy things would hurt Gaara.

A bath? He didn't think about bath. Nobody told him about bath. And how was it supposed to help? He had a strange idea that when he bathed, the blood flowed from him even more freely and quickly. They told him he was going to stop bleeding in a few days, but it really didn't seem like that and he really had no reasons to believe them and-

'Calm down, you pea.' he muttered, trying to walk to his room without tripping. When Naruto struggled like that it was even harder to compose himself with those belly aches. 'Or I will trip us both. Have you woken up?' He moved, so maybe he came to his senses at last. Gaara decided to treat the previous acting like if Naruto was dreaming. It wasn't really different from it.

Naruto immediately stilled – considering. He could get off Gaara's arms… really easily. Gaara apparently was a lot weaker when he was like this. But… it might hurt him…

'Why are you not talking to me?' Gaara reached the door. He was glad he left the open, or he would be in a big problem now. 'Don't be like that, you're hurting my feelings...'

He maneuvered them slowly through it, very glad that Naruto decided to stay still and kicked the opening close. His room. He felt relieved. He looked at the blond in his arms, who was closed like a can of soup, all warm but unreachable through a barrier.

'Am I not worthy your answer?' he asked, then got Naruto onto his bed and laid him down carefully. Gaara was still on the edge of the bed, and that was the only thing keeping him from diving under it to hide. Originally, he'd had his own room… technically he still did, but it was empty now. From the beginning, he'd used other people's room to sleep, mostly Gaara's. After they'd started having sex, he'd started to bring his things here, and it was their room. But after what had happened, Naruto had wanted to lock himself into it—only Gaara wouldn't let him. If he wasn't in his room, Gaara would get him and bring him back to the redhead's.

And carrying him around hurt Gaara. Even the man had said so. So he mostly let Gaara keep him inside, but- no… he didn't want to hurt Gaara. But Gaara had told him he hated him…

'…sorry.' He whispered, burying his face in a pillow.

'I know you're sorry.' And it really was a pitiful sight. Very sad, pitiful sight that made his heart clench and really, really pained him, even more than his insides. 'Stop being sorry for everyone.' The redhead slowly brushed blond hair and looked at the tender skin at the back of his neck. He kissed it in a gentle, slow manner, feeling the taste, letting it linger and print the skin.

'You're worrying me.' he mouthed into the warm skin and stroked yellow hair some more 'Please, stop doing that.' He closed his eyes for a brief moment, then got off the bed and searched for his bottle of water. It was still warm, which was a happy information. He got it with himself and came back to bed, sitting on the edge and curling around it, watching Naruto. 'Are you hurt?'

Naruto shivered, Gaara's lips on his nape making him feel tingly from both instinctive fear and slight pleasure. The blond shook his head.

'But… I hurt everyone.' The younger boy said, his voice muffled. '… I don't want to hurt people. I don't like people getting hurt and I c-could have killed them…' He sniffed, pressing himself even more against the pillow. 'I'm bad. Why am I bad? I don't want to be…'

Gaara looked at him. Looked some more. Then he got his bottle and hit Naruto on the head. It wasn't a strong hit, nor was it hurtful since the bottle was made of rubber, but it surely was a hit.

'I killed people before. It's nothing. It's too easy. Anything can. A strong punch will make a hole in the chest. A strong grip will tear muscles and make people bleed to death. One bite and they don't have half of their head. I'd say they should be grateful for you to not hurting them.' He slowly got his feet on the bed. The floor was cold and the chilly, small wind was going around it today, so it was better to have your feet of it.

'If you're bad for killing people then I'm the monster. Do you see me crying?' he looked at Naruto, then a pained twang had blossomed on his face in a moment. Then he lied down, spooning around Naruto, and holding him close, stroking his limbs and body. 'You're not bad.' he whispered in low, warm breath 'You said sorry and they said they don't mind. Why are you doing this to yourself? You did nothing wrong. If anyone is to blame, then it's doctors who made us like that.'

The blond hesitated—then turned, wrapping his arms around Gaara's neck. He didn't like when Gaara hurt other people, either—he always tried to stop him and was more or less successful, as if he got in the middle, the one that ended wounded was usually him, which normally had Gaara doubting before doing anything too hurtful. But Gaara was Gaara. And he…

'I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to hurt people that are nice to me!' He buried his face against Gaara's neck, pressing his eyes against his collarbone. 'You said you hated me. I made you hate me.'

'I don't hate you...' Gaara nuzzled the blond mess in a thoughtful, loving manner, getting a nice, tight grip around the blond, feeling happy that his sunshine had finally answered to his calls. 'I love you. And if you don't want to do it, then stop crying, It hurts those idiots to see you cry. And I hate it when you cry too.'

'But Gaara-' Naruto whined, nuzzling against the other nearly desperately, trying to press as close as he could. He hadn't let Gaara touch him in the past days, afraid of rejection. Now he didn't want to let go or stop touching the redhead. 'What if they want to give me back? I don't want to be alone anymore…'

'I won't let them.' the redhead muttered 'And if I can't, I will go with you and we will both find a way to come back. Baby...' He kissed him soundly on the lips, not too long and not too quick, then he furrowed his nonexistent eyebrows for a moment and gritted his teeth '...please, don't touch me down there. I'm bleeding.'

The blond immediately tensed and removed his hands.

'S-sorry…' his hands bunched on his own shirt, squeezing the material from the sheer stress of the situation. '…hurts?'

'It stains.' Gaara slowly hugged the blond and breathed into his scent. 'It hurts the same from the moment it started. No difference. Not your fault.' To be honest, he didn't know whose fault was that, but he was sure it was nothing that Naruto did.

The dead blood smell scared Naruto, but Gaara was warm and breathing and… he cuddled closer. His hands lifted up, tracing the scar on Gaara`s forehead and tracing the deep indentions, then brushed down, over the raccoon eyes. He leaned, closing Gaara.

'I didn't want to scare you. I thought you were dead. I thought someone was hurting you.'

'You didn't scare me.' Now that was a pure lie, he was panicking like a mouse from a cat, but he was not going to tell that a baby who just cried over it, hell he had an image and opinion to keep. 'I wasn't dead. Do you think I'm weak?'

'That blood is dead.' Naruto insisted, kissing Gaara's cheek and jaw, his hand stroking his side lightly. 'There was blood, it was yours an smelled dead, and you weren`t anywhere.'

'And you're talking too much.' He clamped his hand over blond's mouth and looked into his eyes with a serious expression. 'There's no possibility for me to be dead. None at all. Remember that.' The kid really looked too cute for his own good, but also was very persistent and Gaara had to work over it with patience he barely had.

And silence emerged. Gaara slowly removed his hand from Naruto's face an insisted on kissing the blond here and there until he was sure, absolutely sure that the sunshine was not crying anymore and he licked every trace of his tears. He loved the little silly cub, but composing himself was becoming hard now, and he really wanted his itchy skin to be left alone. His stomach gave him uneasiness and he felt his genitalias being wet and rubbed by things he usually didn't wear and it all hurt and... He slowly got up and walked to the nearest corner to look onto the wall and dullyfy himself. It was a natural position his instincts told him to keep, so he listened to them and watched the wall. A few more days... only a few more days and he will stop bleeding. Hopefully.

Naruto whimpered a little at loss, but he`d learnt that clingy as he could be, Gaara just wanted to be left alone sometimes. And all the crying had given him a headache, so he was tired… He curled on the spot, leaving enough room for Gaara when he decided to come back.

#+#+#+#+#+#

A lot of things came with being pregnant. Like your bladder turning into a pea, your hair doing things it had never done before, your ankles feeling like elephant feet, and the baby you are carrying making you crave odd things at odd hours. Also, it pretty much felt like having a possessed melon strapped to your intestines. Oddly enough, bursts of patience also came with the fun melon package, which probably was the reason Temari was resting with her back against her husband's chest as he pretty much attempted to use her bulging stomach as a sort magical seeing ball. Cause he kept rubbing it like if it were a fucking magic eight ball. But that was okay… she could take it…

'Why can't we call her Bambi? Gaara likes the name, and I've already gotten used to it… and Nara Bambi doesn't sound that bad.' Just as long as she could torture her man a little.

'Because, my dear troublesome bag of awesomeness' said Nara Shikamaru lazily and happily and as playfully as he could at the moment, though it really had his extra reserves going since the question was rolled back and forth every three days 'It's a name from a movie. Do you want our baboon to get back home every day and cry that kids once again laughed at it?' Or, what was more possible, come home proudly, showing his beautiful mother's attitude and say how many asses it kicked. And no, he was not telling her that. 'Besides... what's wrong with Shikako? I think it will suit our kid better than some foreign Italian word.'

'Because I don't think she'll want to have yours, it's the same-' Temari suddenly stilled, clasping her hands together in what could only be sadistic delight. 'I know! I know how we should call her! It's PERFECT.'

Shikamaru looked at her, a little unsure of himself.

'What?' he asked, though he had very bad feelings about it. Temari turned around, batted her green eyes at her husband and whispered:

'Yoshino Jr.'

'HOLLY SHI-! You don't mean it!' he almost howled, feeling like whole blood in his veins simply went down to his feet and left him gasping for air 'No! Absolutely no! I disagree!'

Temari was grinning like only cannibalistic animals could.

'But baby, it's just perfect! It might even make your mom visit more often, and it'll be like her having a Mini-me. That you can't legally get rid of for about 18-21 years! So it'll be like childhood, but now you'd be responsible for her! Oh-' She grasped his shoulders, keeping him still. 'Better yet! Yoshino the second!'

Shikamaru looked at her like if he had had seen a ghost, his lips so pale they were actually white. And he looked at her. And looked at her. And looked... Then he got out his cell phone, dialed a number and said:

'Hello, dad? Hi, can you give me mom for a second?' in silence, he still looked at her with horrified glare, like if was about to be beheaded 'Hi. What do you think about your granddaughter being named after you? Yes, Yoshino Jr..., no, wait, it was the second... really? Yes... yes, her idea. Every day? Even when we will be out? But you have work... not a problem? Cook for us? Ah, so troublesome... no, nothing... really? Wait a second...

He held off the phone and turned to Temari.

'My mother said it's a great idea' he muttered, not too loudly to not bother the people on the other side of the phone line 'She actually said she will forgive us and cook for us and take care of her when we'll be out...' Slowly, very slowly, his mouth started curving up. 'And she will be visiting us and will be tutoring it and she will want to get closer to you and show you how real woman should cook and take care of a baby...'

Up. Up. Uuup. Pearly whites smiling up!

'Isn't that awesome?' he exploded, grinning like a madman, then he got back to the phone 'Of course we will do that! Yoshino Junior, named after her great grandmother! All Temari's idea! Of course she will take lessons from you! Ah, family reunion- what, second child! Yes, but of course! The name! Why, Yashamaru of course! Great, isn't it? I think so too!' And then he laughed, loudly, merrily, like if Christmas was about to start. 'All thanks to my wifey!'

Temari just stared at the person that had manipulated her into saying `I do`. Then shrugged.

'….well, shit, I was joking, but if you can have your mom do all the hard parenting for us, that means we can be irresponsible teenagers for a while longer. I mean, your mom really likes the sound of her voice, so I'll just… nod appropriate.'

'But Gaara doesn't like your mom- ah… well, maybe one of them will eat the other and it'll be one less thing to worry about.' She suddenly frowned. 'But, hey, what happened to all the promises you made Bambi about doing all the hard parental stuff? Shouldn`t you be the one taking the lessons.'

Shikamaru stopped laughing, and just smiled at her with his usual lazy grin.

'I said that I will do the hard parental stuff and I will' he said, then showed her the phone. The dialed number was unrecognizable and seemed to be hit in a completely random way.

'The number you're trying to reach does not exist. Please, try again. The number you're trying to reach does not exist...' it chanted in a sweet femalish voice.

'I married a smart woman, but I'm not stupid myself.' he said, closing the phone 'Two can play the game.'

Temari wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly.

'I know baby. Your acting skills aren't exactly what I'd call convincing. Besides… I think you'd let Gaara adopt her before handing her to your mother.' With a contented sigh she turned around and slumped against his chest, her eyes closed. 'Now, seriously. Is the `Shika` absolutely necessary within the name? Don't you think people will know she's a Nara when she takes twenty three hours naps.'

'It's a family tradition. I'm Shikamaru, my dad is Shikaku...' he stopped for a moment 'And like to think that Nara will be continued in the future. Even if it will be full of naps future.' He got back to rubbing the belly of Temari, and smiled lightly. 'And you like 'Shikako', right? Chibi Shikako-hime.' he sang in a delighted tone. Touching the balloon of his wife's belly really made him feel happy. 'Or maybe you have better idea yourself, huh, kiddo?'

'I don't think she'll want to be named like the female version of your father's name.' Her eyes trailed towards the when a new person entered, recognizing easily the solid bulk of her brother, who was quietly followed by a very pale person that seriously looked like he could use a few gallons of blood. Unlike Kiba, creak-bone guy didn't like to invade Kankuro's space.

He also looked like a deflated balloon, and it might just be the hormones talking, or the unadulterable PINK newlywed aura that she hoped would wear off sometimes soon before she gagged on her own sugar (nah… not really, but if things stayed this good, she was going to start getting suspicious) but she had opened her mouth before she could think better.

'Why don't we ask the artist in the family? Kankuro!' her unfinished muffin sailed the air and hit the brunet on the side of head 'Come help, we are picking baby names and Shika wants to call your niece after his father.'

'Ouch!' the brunet looked around immediately 'What the hell- Oh, it's you.' Wasn't it obvious? She was the one who liked throwing things at him. He was supposed to be used to that. 'And what's wrong with that?'

Kankuro stopped, but didn't dare to get closer.

'If I remember right, I'm supposed to be named after our mother, only father was so drunk he actually didn't know what he has written in the 'name' label. If a guy can be named after a female then a girl can be named after a male.' Then he looked around and stopped, surprised, like if didn't know he was being followed. 'What do YOU want?'

'See? I told you.' Shikamaru was smiling again and it was a smile of happiness.

'But I don't want her to have repeated names, can't it be a little more original? Do you want me to tell her when she asks why we are such bad parents, that her older uncle just walked off into the sunset.' Yeah, Kankuro wasn't looking too happy. He hadn't even bothered with any of his complicated make up designs and his kitty cap was gone. Whatever bullshit Morino was feeding her brother it didn't seem to be having a nice effect on him. She was so gonna kick his ass as soon as she could get up by her own means without having to wobble around like a duck for it. 'Sit here and help. We need a name, it's gotta be for a girl, and it's gotta have Shika on it.'

Kimimaro just stared back evenly. The younger male knew why he was here. He wasn't going to explain himself again.

'Why should I be bothered, it's your baby.' That was only muttered under his nose, because Kankuro decided to move from his spot and sat tiredly in front of the newlyweds. 'Sis, I don't know where have you been living lately, but as far as I know there's not many names with 'Shika' in those and for girls even. How do you know it's a 'she'?'

'We just know' said Shikamaru, then smiled like a cat who got his bowl filled with cream 'It will be our little princess, very wise and nice who will be a strategic and will love nature.'

'Smart princess, eh?' Kankuro snorted, then propped himself on his elbows and closed one eye, looking at them with a playful smile 'Why don't you just call her Naushika then?'

She batted her eyes at him.

'That's why we called you, smartass, aren't you the one that's artistic and unique?' She initially made a face at the name, but seemed to think about it better. 'Doesn't sound too good with the Nara… But it does sound great with our last name. Sabaku no Naushika.'

'Wait, wasn't a movie we saw when we were little kids…? Kane no… something…'

'Kaze no tani no Naushika', yes, some animated movie for little kids, just like yours.' Kankuro seemed to get into the topic with agility 'But Naushika is originally a Greek name from 'Odyssey'. If you don't like it, you can always go for Kushika. It will be happy like hell.'

Temari perked up.

'Kushika? I like it.' Yeah. Nara Kushika. no repeated names, went nice with the family name... and hell, it was always better a happy kid than an 'Odyssey' one!

'So you like KUshika better than Shikako? What's different about it? It sounds even more similar to my dad's name, ShikaKU...'

'Why are you disappointed, man?' asked Kankuro 'Women are strange, you can eat the intelligence of the whole world and you still will be just a stupid male. Women are in the higher stadium of evolution. M'glad they're weak for what they are, or they would get rid of us.'

'Then I'm gonna have two higher stadiums of evolution in my family. Nothing's better for science and brains!' Kankuro slouched, seeing that Shikamaru's eyes were all glittery and he was probably still under impression of the first stadium of love when it came to his wife. 'Yeah, so Kushika... you have your name, so I'm done here.' he slowly got up and looked at the pale guy. 'Janitor.'

'You wish.' was the answer.

'No, I don't.' And really, it was just a wish he couldn't have granted. Kimimaro was a honest guy who was just as uninterested but also knew better than to listen to him. So he just watched his every move, like he was told to, and Kankuro had no peace at all.

He went back to their own shared room. It was cold and frosty, and since the pale guy has been there it became also a little creepy - the guy was collecting skeletons, Kankuro didn't try asking him if they were real. It wasn't like if an answer would make him happy or satisfied in life. Got back to their routine. Kankuro lied on the bed and Kimimaro sat on his own, staring at him. He didn't do that only when he slept. And when Kankuro was away from him - and that meant only times when Kankuro ate. So, despite the bitterness and not wanting to eat anything, brunet decided to just go to the main dining hall and engulf himself in something hot and sticky. To make himself a bit happier.

And he chose the right time - everyone were eating dinner, so nobody touched their dessert yet - Kankuro skipped the healthy food and just got himself three portions of yellow rice covered in fake chocolate (which wasn't very tasty, but hey, he only wanted hot and sweet, it didn't have to be classified handy and dandy) and sat in the middle of the room, eating it almost I-have-sweets-and you-don't-in-your-face manner, not caring for rules. It didn't really matter.


	14. Neliteist

Naruto woke up still headache-y, but feeling reasonably better. Even if bed was very cold. Gaara, apparently due his hormones going crazy, was warmer than him as of late, and Naruto had gotten used to curling to that warmth, not minding it one bit. Gaara hadn't been in bed. How long had he slept…?

'Gaara?'

The redhead didn't answer, sitting near the wall with his forehead glued to it. He slowly chewed on his mouth and moaned slightly with mouth and eyes closed - his will and strength was getting strained from the dull pain and he was slowly going nut. Maybe it was because hot water was not hot anymore, but he really didn't feel like going and fetching himself a new one. Shizune probably would have him away from the fire in one moment and he'd get another tirade about how it's dangerous, like if he wasn't a threat himself. He banged his forehead on the wall slightly and stilled. If that was what it felt to have womb, he didn't know how his sister or any other woman could simply exist. He had no idea.

Naruto stilled at the sound of pain form the older boy, slowly leaving his own warm spot in bed and advancing until he could curl next to the other, one warm hand hesitantly brushing against the other's forehead, fingering the scar.

'Gaara, you are still hurting? Do you want me to get that thing Ibiki said? The anti-inflammatory?' he still didn't want to go out and see other people, but if Gaara was in pain…

'No, no pills, no...' Gaara advanced from the wall and lied on a bed with a heavy 'thud'. 'Everything's better than inflames...' Really, when it will stop? He was told it would go away when the bleeding would stop, but he wasn't sure about it anymore. It was probably a sign that he was starting to die from a blood loss an d nobody cared.

'But it will make you feel better. Matsuri was taking them and she felt better.' Naruto made a small, worried sound and quietly followed the redhead, his hand running over his back lightly as if trying to soothe discomfort. 'And a bath?'

'I will get the tub all bloody.' he ignored the comment about Matsuri. The girl was a problem of his life, wanting to pet him even if he was about to cut her throat open. Whatever she did, it did not count. He rolled over and got up. 'I will just go and... walk... or something...' And to tell the truth, he had to visit a bathroom. His bladder was being pushed over lately so he had to do it more often. Not really enjoyable thing.

'That can be washed away. You put that thing filled with hot water on your stomach. Maybe staying in hot water will help.'

'Stop worrying so much, cub.' The redhead stroked Naruto's hair and kissed him lightly on lips to make a thankful note and got up. He slowly maneuvered himself into the bathroom and emptied his bladder. Now, if anything, that felt good. A little less pressure in an instance.

'I don't like it when you are hurting...' By the time Gaara came back, Naruto had curled on the bed with his head against the wall and wordlessly opened his arms, looking at the other pleadingly. Gaara looked at him in silence, then he slowly crawled on the bed and laid his head on Naruto's lap, not really getting into his arms.

'Let's just lay like that.' he muttered into Naruto's legs and stilled. Naruto made a face, one hand going to Gaara's shoulder and shaking him lightly, the other offering him the water bottle.

'It's hot now.'

Gaara didn't move at first, then he slowly got his head up and looked at the bottle with disbelief.

'How did you do that?' he muttered, slowly getting it from Naruto's hands and gluing it to his stomach. Naruto looked away, shrugging lightly.

'I wanted it to be hot.' It hadn't happened with a while. Not since the tests- he'd forgotten about it, but water was easy… easy and safe. One he was sure Gaara had adjusted himself, he covered him with the blankets and started stroking Gaara's scalp lightly with his nails. 'Better?'

Gaara only flicked his tongue, licking Naruto's hip bone lightly and laid his head down with a tired sigh.

'If you're not crying, then everything's much better.'

The blond made a small sound and leaned, licking Gaara's forehead lightly, then kissing his cheek.

'I just hope this will end up soon and you stop hurting. I don't like when you're hurt.'

'I hope so too.' No, he had no hope at all and he was probably dying, but Naruto just've stopped crying over everyone and it was so nice to have him like that... so he decided to not voice his thoughts out loud. And it would be nice to die in a peaceful atmosphere. He closed his eyes, content at the caress only to give his eyes some rest, since sleep was beyond question and hushed his insides down. It was all better now, really. All was all right...

Gaara purred a little, feeling the nice caress and breathed lightly, feeling it was nice to be pampered up once in awhile. He cracked one eye open, looking at distressed Naruto and patted him slightly on his belly.

'Go to sleep cub, you worry too much. I need you to worry less.' Gaara yawned with his mouth closed and nuzzled Naruto back, licking his jaw lightly. His sunshine seemed to be tired too, so he tried to move into the best possible position to let him rest too. He didn't comment on the first sentence, but in his opinion, he didn't have to. He knew, that if anything, he will be the one to take care of them both and manage with everything. He knew he will. 'Sleep well, love.'

#+#+#+#+#+#

Temari sighed. Things were just getting… a little too troublesome, for lack of better word. Before getting pregnant, she had decided she was going to continue her job even after starting a family. Why should she let Shikamaru`s latest obsession interfere with what had been her life for almost ten years? He wanted kids, okay, she was giving him kids, but she wasn't going to drop everything to become a mommy and loose her identity. Too bad her identity seemed intent on getting lost, because now that she knew the possessed melon from Hell was an alive thing that was hers and Shika's, it was hard *not* to think about it. What if something happened to her?

Not that she was an amateur or didn't know how to take care of herself, but what if, by any chance, something happened to her? Did she want her daughter to be raised without a mother, like the three of them had? Did she want to leave Shikamaru alone, in charge of a little girl, or worse yet, leave her for his mother to rise? Not that Yoshino was *that* bad a mother, and she didn't doubt she *could* take care of Kushika, alias Bambi, efficiently. She just didn't want other women meddling with raising her daughter. Not that she'd have any experience, but—

These ideas were starting to become an obsession. When she thought that she was already less than two months away from giving birth, she felt nauseous in ways the baby hadn't made her feel. Lucky her, apparently she didn't get much morning sickness at all, just baby-jeepers. She didn't want to discuss this with Shikamaru, either—the moment she hinted she was having doubts regarding continuing or not her… career, Shikamaru would leap on her like a wolf on a wounded gazelle and have her resign in five minutes, flat. Actually, she didn't want to talk about it at all, because the only person she could think about discussing something like this with was Kankuro, and her younger brother seemed to have enough problems of his own.

She'd gone to corner Morino to try and beat some information out of him, only to have him calmly tell her that what he spoke with Kankuro was private and that he needed time to think about some things. Apparently therapy had been cancelled for gods knew how long –and no, Neji wasn't any happier about it than she was, but apparently if Morino said time was needed, even Neji had to shut his pretty mouth and deal with it- she didn`t even stop to wonder if maybe part of whatever was so important her brother was thinking about might concern a certain missing pest that had left the facility around a month ago, either. As far as she knew it, Kankuro hated Inuzuka and should still be high in happy from the sheer fact both barking master and pet were permanently removed from his life.

And of course, she didn't think about asking him. Not because she didn't care. Just because Sabakus didn't work like that, and if they wanted to talk about whatever they were thinking they did, they didn't get *asked* to share them.

Still, her nerves were wearing thin, and if she couldn't make her mind up soon, she was going to have to go bother her younger brother for it. Speaking of younger brothers, Gaara had survived his first period and Naruto was finally going out of his room, even though he still mostly avoided direct eye contact, a wonder after more than three weeks had happened. Apparently they had underestimated the effect what had happened had had on blondielocks.

That aside… her last check with Kabuto and the man warning her about certain things she should keep in mind had started ringing alarm bells in her mind. She decided she had grossly overlooked a very important details besides her own fear of becoming a mother. The birth.

'Gaara. Bambi and I came to visit.'

Gaara was sitting in the corner, trying to read some book with a very smart title. He succeeded to read three pages. And that was very good, because he usually didn't read anything else than newspapers, so managing to read three pages in two days was something to be proud of. Not that he understood what he was reading. He laid the book down once Temari entered the room and leapt to sit face-to-belly position in instance.

'Hey, Bambi.' he said lightly. Then he looked at Temari like if he forgot who she was. After agonizing three minutes of silence, he uttered slowly: 'Oh. And you. I forgot you're attached to it.' And he got back to staring at her belly.

Her sister smacked him lightly, before leaning to give him a kiss in the top of the head, then shuffled to sit on the unmade bed, trying not to think about what might have been done on it for it to be that rumpled.

'Where`s Naruto?'

'Eating. I told him to.' said Gaara like if it was the most obvious thing on the world and hopped on the bed to continue with staring 'He wasn't eating enough.'

Because Gaara was almost non-stop laying on his face in his room and Naruto accompanied him without a break. Once he really stopped bleeding (which he couldn't believe at first, and then he decided his wounds were treated correctly and healed at last) he told him to fetch something while he stayed in the room, not bothering himself with anything edible. He really didn't need much of a food to survive. Temari nodded, a small frown on her face as she thought about how to deliver this talk to her little brother, who could easily get offended by very stupid things.

'Gaara, you know Bambi is going to be born soon, right?'

Gaara slowly nodded, staring at her belly like if it was hypnotizing him.

'It said there's too tight for it, so I guessed it will come out soon.'

'That's right…' Temari touched his hair lightly, still marveling about how soft it was. Why couldn't her hair be that soft? 'You know how's that gonna happen?'

'It will come out.' said Gaara and shrugged. He looked at her like if she was a little retarded, then he looked at the hand on his hair. He observed it and got back to gawking at her belly. 'Come out means come out.'

Temari made a `yyyeeeah, not really` kinda sound, rubbing lightly one of his ears as she tried to explain.

'It's a bit more complicated than that. Babies aren't born that easily. It's a lot of work, and some things might be a bit scary for Bambi, but she needs them so she will grow up fine.'

Gaara closed his eyes, content. Then he opened them and looked at the ceiling, lost in thought. Then he furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her, his face drowned in confusion.

'What things?'

'I just came back from seeing Kabuto. We had an ultrasound of Bambi made – you know, when we kind of see where she is?- and she's- well… Normally, babies come out from a woman's vagina-' And her brother had one, gods, she was never, ever going to get used to it. At least Gaara still definitely looked male. 'And it takes a lot of work. From me and from Bambi, because she's gotten so big.'

She continued petting him lightly, trying to make all of this sound as normal as possible, even if she'd rather not think about any of this right now

'It starts when my stomach starts hurting a bit, because that's how Bambi shows she is ready to be born. Then I have to-er… push her out. And it can be fast or it can take a really long while. It's different for everyone, so we can't really tell. And I'm probably going to get shots so it won't hurt so much, but I might scream a lot, and there might be a lot of blood, but that's like the blood you had, remember? It's blood that Bambi was using for things that she won't need any more when she comes out.'

Gaara looked at her, even more confused, then he backed away, so she couldn't touch him anymore. His stare was slowly turning into glare and he bared his teeth, showing he was becoming annoyed at his confusion.

'Babies come from vaginas? How did they get there?' he asked, then furrowed his nonexistent brows even more and turned his sharp glare onto her belly 'Bambi will make you scream? And it uses your blood? If it won't need it, why it's going to come out and not stay with you? Does it want to kill you?' Then he bared his canines and twitched nervously, slowly curling his fingers into claws.

'Bleeding hurts.' he growled, and looked at her belly with hostile glare. 'I will kill it.'

Temari looked at her younger brother puzzled for a second, then reached for him and hugged him to her, laughing a bit at how he was reacting.

'Gaara, really, did no one explain you how babies are born? You did the same to mama. Everyone in the world is born like that. It`s not just Bambi, babies are born like that. Calm don and I'll explain you.'

'But you said you will bleed!' Gaara whined (as a real alpha male) and pushed her a bit so he could look at her face 'I don't understand.'

'Gaara, you know girls bleed every month. That's what happened to you, and it's probably gonna happen to you in a few weeks or next month again. Bambi got in my belly because there is a tiny flesh egg inside us. That egg is something like half of a baby. To make the other half, you need to have sex and… um. When you do, the sperm that gets inside you has the genetic information to make the other half of the baby. If the sperm gets to the egg, it forms a baby. If a month passes and no sperm got there, the flesh egg gets old, so your body gets rid of it. And it hurts because your body is pushing it away. '

'I will bleed again?' Gaara looked at her like if she had hit him. Then he grimaced and pushed her away 'I don't want to bleed again.'

He didn't really listen to all that 'genetic thing' talk, he barely understood what it had to do with anything.

'Babies are not halves.' he muttered, feeling like if she wanted to make a fool out of him 'We don't lay eggs.'

What was she thinking? He wasn't an idiot. Temari sighed.

'No, but babies are made with two halves of genetic information. It's uh-' she rubbed her head. 'Let's do this. Why don't you go get Iruka-sensei to explain you how babies are made? He has books with pictures so you can actually see what that flesh egg looks like, and he can explain you how babies are made better.'

Wasn't the men supposed to help Naruto and Gaara adjust better? Yep, so he better do it.

'When you understand those things better, I'll explain you more about what's gonna happen when the baby is born, ok? He'll also explain you more about why you bleed. But you would feel better if you actually took those pills. They don't do anything but make you feel better, I promise.'

Gaara snarled and hopped down from the bed, going back to his corner.

'You promise, they promise, everyone promised me many things and it always was me who was hurt. I don't want pills.' he tossed her an annoyed glance and took his book again, holding it upside down 'Iruka doesn't have a baby. He can't know how those are made.'

He looked at the book and turned it right.

'Bye, Bambi, don't come again. I don't like you anymore.' he muttered and covered his face with book completely, so he didn't have to see her.

'Gaara. Iruka-sensei might not have babies of his own, but he knows how they are made. He is a teacher, and he teaches things to people, so it's his work to know things.' Temari sighed, lying back on the bed and closing her eyes, trying to think about how to explain these things to her brother without going mad herself. But it was just sooo troublesome…

'Gaara. Do you remember what happened to Naruto when he thought you got hurt?'

'He went stupid.' said Gaara, still not changing his position and covering his face with book.

'…yes. But he also hurt a lot of people, and then he got very sad.'

Gaara shrugged. Temari sighed again.

'Gaara, I'm trying to tell you this because when Bambi is born, we don't want the same thing happening. What if Naruto misunderstands something and tries to hurt someone? If he does kill someone, I don't know if he's going to get better this time. What if he gets so depressed he wants to die…?'

This was more or less a lie. The possibilities of Naruto going berserker like he had were infinitesimal. While out, tests to see if Naruto was developing changes in his body had been performed as well, and they had found that there had been a radical and sudden increase of testosterone that simply went out shortly after. Apparently Naruto had reacted to the idea that Gaara had been hurt and reacted accordingly. Naruto would have to be sure Gaara was in grave danger to act like that.

'That's why I need you to understand this, so you can explain it to him. You know he only ever really believes what you tell him. Please, Gaara?'

'But I don't believe you. You're saying stupid things.' Gaara slowly lowered the book and looked at her with serious face. 'I'm not gonna feed him this idiocy. And if the baby will hurt you, I will help him with the slaughter.'

'Do you think I like getting hurt?' Temari said, suddenly irritated. 'Why would I defend something that's trying to hurt me? Kushika doesn't mean to hurt me, that's just how babies are born, and she can't help it. Now stop being unreasonable. I have no reasons to lie.' With considerable effort, she got herself to a sitting position, then to her feet, rubbing her sore back. 'Put clothes on, we are going out. And you better behave.'

'Out?' Gaara dropped the book on the floor, suddenly all tensed up and looked at her, bewildered 'Out? I'm not allowed to go out.' Then he looked at her belly and murmured in a dark tone: 'It doesn't care for you. It wants out. It doesn't care if it hurts you.'

'Gaara. I'm her mother. Bambi does care, and I don't mind. Now put clothes on, go tell Naruto you are going to come with me so he won't drive everyone mad looking for you and let the allowing-you-out to me.' She put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes on him. 'But you damn better behave. I don't want you hurting people, growling at them or stealing things. Understood?'

Gaara quickly put his pants on, along with a small t-shirt and went out, barefoot, searching for Naruto. He didn't bother answering, he was too excited about what was going to happen. He was never allowed to go out. Never. His sister was trying to do impossible. But if she managed... he burst into the kitchen like a mini-bomb and exclaimed loudly the loudest call he could manage.

This was turning to be a very long and hard day for Nara Temari. Understandably, she wasn't in the best of moods by the time she got to Neji`s office. It took a little longer than expected (nearly half an hour) but she got what she wanted. Of course, she'd know she would. This time she had all the logical reasons in the world to win the argument.

a) Gaara NEEDED to be explained what would happen when she gave birth. Because even if both he and Naruto were tranquilized before, during and after, there was no saying what her volatile brother might do if feeling murderous enough. b) If Neji didn't let them out, she was simply going to go and take her brothers with her. That was bluffing on her part, and Neji knew it, but Temari was also unpredictable and pregnant. In the hypothetical case she did and Gaara left… Naruto would try to follow, go murderous again or simply let himself slowly starve to death.

c) If Temari left, so would Shikamaru. And between Shikamaru and what little information the idiot from the FBI that worked with them had, Shikamaru would wipe the floor with the idiot before letting him get his woman in jail. d) They would be leaving this facility in two days. And they didn't make ruckus, they wouldn't even have to care anyway. e) She requested Kakashi, Haku and Iruka to come with her.

She finally exited the office still smiling smugly and frowned at seeing her brother still half dressed, waiting for her at the door like an anxious dog.

'Gaara, I need to tell Shikamaru and Kankuro we are going out. And you are still half dressed. Put on something warmer, shoes and a jacket and wait for me at the doors. Neji said yes, but we are taking some people with us.'

'I don't have shoes.' Gaara looked at his bare feet and wiggled them, like if this would help the shoes appear. But since shoes don't appear because of such simple activities, he got a better idea. He snuck into Kankuro's bedroom and took what he needed to take. 'Hey, this is my favorite coat! What are you doing-'

'Was. Going out.' Kankuro looked like if he wanted to argue, but Gaara didn't leave much to say when he vanished from the spot. On his way to the door he met Shikamaru, who was slowly folding his newspaper and looked like if he was ready to kill someone.

'You'd better not case us any trouble.' he muttered, litting a cigarette and following him. Gaara didn't answer him, not bothering with his presence at all and just went on his way until he reached the door. Iruka was standing there, preparing himself to wear an oversized coat. Pretty-face was there too. He stopped and looked at Iruka with no particular interest.

'Oh, hey Gaara. Since when do you have shoes?'

'I don't.'

'But those are-'

'Not mine.'

Temari smiled approvingly at her little brother, thinking he looked rather nice in black, even if the coat was a little too big for him.

'That looks nice on you, Gaara, you got them from Kankuro?'

'No.' answered truthfully Gaara and looked at the door with anticipation. Kankuro didn't give him those, he simply took them. 'When are we going to go?'

'Now… if you promise me you won't do anything that will make other people look at you weird, that won't attack anyone, hurt, snarl, growl, claw, scream, purr, kill, maim, steal, take anything that isn't ours, that you won't run away from us, that you will stay at all times with me-am I missing something?' she turned to Shikamaru questioningly, then gave him a dirty look as she caught him smoking. He shot her an offended glare, pointing with his chin at Gaara, but he threw out the cigarette.

'Maybe that you won't sniff anyone, that would be too troublesome to explain too.' he muttered, looking at Gaara with hopeless expression. Gaara looked at the door like if they were promising him gold unicorns.

'When are we going to go?' he asked again, nodding frantically to the question. It was obvious he was hardly listening to what was said to him.

'When you promise you won`t do anything that will call attention to you. Gaara!' Temari tilted his chin up so he was looking at her. 'Gaara, I promised Neji you would behave. I know you can go out without calling attention to you, so please, can you promise Onee-san you will behave? if you don`t, we are going to have trouble. And I don`t think we`ll be let to take you out again.'

Gaara let out an impatient whine, his eyes going back and forth from Temari to the door.

'We are not going to go?' he asked, then grimaced, baring his canines in pain and despair. 'I want to go! I won't bite people! I want to go!...' he whined again, looking at the door and starting to pace around like a caged animal. 'I won't purr! I won't kill! Let me out!'

'Okay, we are going out, but take your drugs before we do. We are going to be out most of the day.' Rummaging through her purse she came up with the vials filled with the milky yellow concoction Gaara needed to drink every day so his body would be able to function properly. Kakashi finally appeared, already wearing a dark grey coat and a blue scarf covering the lower part of his face, lifting a hand to wave lightly.

'Sorry I was late, two unicorns tried to take me to candy mountain and I had to distract them so I could escape before they`d steal my kidneys.'

'Suuure.' said Shikamaru.

'Idiot.' muttered Gaara and threw an empty vial at Kakashi. He drank it with one swift move, almost choking on it, but he didn't want to prolongate it any longer 'Because of you I'm still here!'

Shikamaru bend toward Temari and whispered: 'He is going with us? Why?'

'You are going with us. You can stay if you want to; there is no need for you to come along.' Finally opening the door that lead to the garage, Temari tossed her keys to Kakashi, getting on the back seats. She wasn't in the mood to hear Shikamaru wailing that if they had an accident the wheel would press her stomach and kill the baby or something. 'We are going by car. Gaara, do you remember what a museum is?'

Gaara didn't answer, looking at the door with advance interest. Temari ruffled his hair lightly.

'Do you want to go somewhere in particular first? We have a couple hours before it opens up.'

Gaara glanced at her, but quickly got back his attention to the door, like if he was afraid that once he would stop staring at them, they would vanish. He opened his mouth though.

'Candy factory.' he said 'Want blueberry.

'We can get those at the candy store. Is that okay?' Kakashi finally got the engine up, flashed his security card to the guards posted at the entrance and they were out in the wonderfully grey snowy winter. The skies were threatening to let snow any moment through, though they had been doing the same for the past couple days and no one took their warning seriously. Temari let Iruka and Haku take care of navigation and rested his head against her man's shoulder, eyes closing briefly. Stupid baby making her tired at odd times...

'What is it?' Shikamaru asked only out of a habit, though he already knew what was going on 'You want me to carry you?' He rubbed her side with a gentle care, slowly moving them along. 'Come, Gaara.'

Gaara stood still in the entrance, eyeing the white stuff on the mud and sniffed the air, wondering why it was so cold. He took a step forward, and when it didn't bite him, he made a few more quick steps, looking around. Whiteness was everywhere. He stilled, sniffing the air again, then he suddenly shot from one spot and started running to the closest tree, and before anyone could say anything, he climbed it and stared at his new viewpoint.

'Gaara! Get down here!' shouted Iruka immediately.

'It's all milky.' answered Gaara in wonder. He looked at Iruka and quickly hopped down 'What?'

'What was this supposed to be? We weren't even ten steps away and you almost made a centre of attention of yourself!' Gaara looked at him with a scared mimic. 'You didn't say anything about climbing trees.' he uttered 'We're going back? Sorry...'

Gaara sat in the car for the whole way like if he ate a straight pole and he growled now and again at the loud sound of the engine. Once they stopped at the lights, he frantically wanted to see what was on the other side of the, and almost choked Shikamaru while trying to get through to the window. When they finally arrived to the nearest candy store and stopped the car, he was the first to get out and to run along the entrance (but not entering any shop and being at the range of their sights). It was just too many sensations to sit still and he had to endure them all.

'Is this really how he should behave?' asked Iruka, seeing that Gaara got more and more like Naruto with his excitement 'I think they spend too much time together...'

'We can just say he ran out of medication.' Kakashi said, shoulders brushing the younger brunet. Temari was rummaging through her purse, cursing softly until she came up with a wrinkled $10 bill.

'Gaara, try to act more calm. Here.' she handed him the money, knowing he at least had seen her pay the men delivering his drugs back when they had to

'Woman, I don't think it's really wise to give him that-' started Shikamaru, but Gaara already got a hold on the money and went inside the shop. And when he endured all the colors and smells... oh my. He got to the big guy, who seemed to be in charge of the store and laid the paper on it and waited. The big man looked at him and smiled.

'How can I help you?' he asked. Gaara only looked at him and turned around, seeing another colorful thing he wanted to get closer to. When he got back, there was still no candies.

'Where are they?' he asked, while the man looked at the bill. 'You didn't tell me what did you want to get, kid.'

'I want salt.'

'Sorry kid, but we don't have salt. It's a candy store.' Gaara looked at him with disappointment, then took the bill and went out of the shop. He handed it to Temari.

'They said they don't have candies.'

'Which ones you asked for?'

'Salt.' said Gaara 'But if they don't have it they can't have blueberry. Kitchen-girl always buys at the same store.'

The older blonde thought about for a second, then handed the bill back.

'You can get your candies in any store, because they are uncommon. But you can find blueberry ones everywhere, just go back and tell the guy to give you $4 in blueberry. $1 in strawberry, wait for him to give you the candy and the change then come back. I'll send a message to Shizune and ask her where does she buy your candies and we'll go there, all right?'

Gaara looked at the bill, unsure, then stared back at Temari.

'Why strawberry?'

'I want candy too. Do you want to try any other taste?'

'Brown ones.' said Gaara, then he looked back into the store, hanging on the door and making it creak 'And those that smell like grass and those that smell like sugar and those that say they explode.' Then, without thinking, he got inside the store again and laid the bill before the big guy.

'Oh, you again? You want something else?' Gaara thought for a moment.

'Grass.'

After a moment he came out of the store with a bill in his hand.

'This store doesn't have candies.' he said and threw the money out to the closest trash bin. 'Can we go somewhere else?'

Temari turned to her husband.

'When we watch the movie, can I take a nap in your lap and you scratch my back a little?'

'Everything you want, dear.' answered Shikamaru and slowly got the bill out of the trash bin 'Gaara, you don't throw out things like that.'

But Gaara was already sitting near their car and waiting for them to let him in. Temari hugged him.

'Where you drunk when you asked to marry me?' Iruka, who apparently couldn`t live a fulfilling moment without trying to help someone, came out of the candy store and gave a small plastic bag to Temari that she distractedly put on her purse while she continued to cling to Shikamaru, then gave the other, bigger one to Gaara.

'Are those for Naruto?'

'No.' said Gaara, then looked into the bag and licked the surface of what he found there. But since the candies were in papers he grimaced only 'For Bambi.'

Iruka sighed, looking at the two lovebirds. Shikamaru was slowly getting into the 'love-mode', so he was holding onto his wife and whispering something to her ear like a mushy newlywed.

'Gaara, she is not even born now.'

'I know.'

'She can't eat candies.'

'I will give them to it when it is born.'

'But-'

'And if she hurts Temari, it won't be getting any. You can tell it that.'

'Gaara, that won't work.'

'It works with baby.'

'No, Gaara, babies do not-'

Gaara hit him with his candy bag.

'I know what I'm doing.' he said and run off to the nearest store to look at the insides through the windows. When they got to the museum it was a nice evening. At first, the redhead refused to go in when he saw how many people were in, but after some coaxing and a promise that this will be a very interesting experience, he reluctantly got in.

At first he kept himself close to the group, but after time passed he started running off to the strangest places and on the further and further distance. There were too many things to see, to watch, to endure...

Shikamaru decided to follow him after Gaara vanished in one of the new rooms and didn't want to come back when they called him. It ended up in him running around while Gaara held him by his hand and random curses - because if anything, Shikamaru wanted to be with Temari right now and hated unnecessary running. After they saw almost half of the museum, the destined cinema room could be spot and the happiest Nara on the world could walk in and sit near his beautiful wife, while very unhappy Gaara sat down near Iruka and Haku, wanting to go out and see why this big elephant (mammoth - corrected him Iruka) was so hairy and how could this feel against his skin.

But soon the movie started and Gaara had to get his attention to the screen. At first he was uninterested, saw some transparent ball and many wiggling worms and he looked around in distaste, not understanding why worms attacking balls were shown to him. He looked at Iruka in distress when one of the worms had broken the balls surface and he heard it was 'little sperm' and the ball was 'an egg' and that they together made a baby. Gaara looked at it then, wanting to see where it had eyes and if it was, by any chance, Bambi? But no, it was still a ball, only it's center was being chopped down by invisible force, making two of one, four of two, eight of four... and some more, but Gaara couldn't count that far. He looked at it, wondering where was the said baby and whined when some boring voice communicated that 'zigsomething' has been moved to the right part of the body and there was a talk about blood. This only got Haku to hush him and made him look closer when it was said it was about 'vaginas' and 'uterus' which was a new part of him. The same, monotone voice spoke about it bleeding and not bleeding, which confused him, because he didn't know that the ball was inside the uterus and - how did it got there? They were probably missing something (which wasn't far from the truth, they were late for the beginning of the movie).

Gaara decided to look at the screen since that was the action that didn't make Iruka and Haku hush him again and again, but he made an annoyed noise at the pair behind them - Shikamaru and Temari were kissing so soundly he actually missed some part and when they finally decided to just sleep he was looking at some strange red monster floating in the water. It looked a bit like a fish and a bird sawn together.

'I want to eat that.' he said out loud 'Can we get some on our way home?'

'It's not edible to eat, Gaara. It's a baby.'

Gaara looked at the screen and still saw a fish-bird monster and scrunched his nose. What baby? He didn't see anything babyfied. He saw food.

But as the time passed the 'food' slowly started to remind somewhat a human, but it still looked like a big chicken with big head. There were some comments about heart beating and water going away, and then the boring voice said it was 'ready to being born', which caught his attention again, but instead of pictures of the thing going out somewhere there was suddenly text read by monotone voice and the film has ended.

He looked at the screen, confused, not being sure what to do with this. He only understood that the bleeding part had to do something with baby and that the baby was being born from the balls broken by worms, but he didn't know from where the things came. He looked at Iruka and Haku, expecting them to say something. But instead of anything, Iruka only smiled at him and asked:

'So? Got everything right? Liked what you saw?' Gaara looked at him, distasted.

'I don't like ducks from the water. I like them fried.' he said and then got around and spotted Temari 'Why were we watching the growing of the food? Does that mean that when baby is born you will be getting us food from belly?'

Luckily for his sister (and possibly her husband) both Nara`s were deeply asleep, Temari curled on Shikamaru`s chest and only cuddled closer when her brother talked to her, a faint frown appearing on her brow before she was pulled closer. Haku as quick to try and divert the redhead's attention before the parents to be could get a Gaara-induced aneurism.

'No, no, Gaara-san, you see… The baby only looks weird like that because the first thing created is it's genetic information, then it slowly starts gaining human form. First the main organs, then skin grows around them- that's why they need to spent time inside their mothers, because it's in their bodies that they can develop. By the time it comes out, Bam- Kushika-chan will look like a very little person.'

'What's genetic information?' asked Gaara, then looked at Temari 'Does that mean that Bambi looks like that?'

'No, but she did several months ago. Now she is nearly ready to be born, so she is completely formed.' Haku thought about how to explain what genetic information was. 'Genetic information is… What makes you the way you are. You remember Shikamaru`s parents, right, and how they both had dark hair? While Kushika-chan will look a bit like your side of Temari-san`s family and a bit like Shikamaru`s, it's very likely that her hair will be dark, simply because there are more generations with dark hair. Humans need to be created with different types of genetic information, that's why half of it is provided by the mother in the egg and the other half needs to be added by the father with the sperm, because they have the missing pieces of information.'

'Then you must have been only your mother's baby.' he said, admiring pretty looks 'Men are not that flowery. But why do we need it? What egg? I didn't see any eggs...' Then he fumed a little, circling his knees on the seat so he didn't have to touch the floor. Kankuro's shoes were too big for him. 'I saw worms.'

Haku blushed at the unintended compliment, or what he considered to be one.

'I do look more like my mother, but my skin and eyes are more like my father. As for the worms... That`s what sperm looks like, if you watch it in a microscope. Same as the eggs- the blood that females dispose of every month have unfertilized eggs on them, but you can`t see them unless you have a microscope.'

'Women bleed with eggs?' Gaara looked with horror on Temari, then he looked at himself with even more horror 'I have worms?'

'Everyone does, Gaara-san, but don`t worry, they aren`t worms. Worms have nothing to do with sperm.' Haku gave the brunet with the scar across his nose a sweet, pointed look. As if saying 'your turn.'

Iruka sighed soundly, hoping he wouldn't have to do it, since Gaara seemed to be curious like three years old kid but far too untrusting like a man who lived longer than Noah.

'You see, Gaara' he started 'Sperm contains many things like those so only the best one can get to the egg. Hence, the only one of them broke the mess.'

'That was egg?'

'Yes, Gaara. And women don't bleed with eggs, the blood is necessary to push out only one, unfertilized. The rest stays in there till the next time.' Gaara looked at Iruka like if he was saying some unique fairy tales.

'But eggs are pointy...' he started 'And why the bleeding...'

'Because that's different egg. We're not birds, Gaara.'

'But this looked like a bird!'

'But... uh... it was only temporary! If it was a normal egg it would stay like that, but because it wasn't it didn't!' said Iruka, flushed and very ashamed that he actually went and broke the 'truth rule', but if he had to explain the evolution process to the redhead, he'd explode. 'It will look like a human when it comes out from the belly.' Gaara eyed him thoughtfully, then got back his attention at Haku.

'Can I have a baby?'

'Guh.' replied Haku, gawking at the redhead. He stared over the younger boy`s shoulder at the brunet and the silver haired man. Kakashi seemed to be absorbed by his little orange book. A little too absorbed. Coward.

Gaara followed Haku's gaze and looked at the cover of the orange book. Kakashi didn't tell him anything intelligent yet. Maybe he'd make more sense... He took the book with one swift move and looked him in the face.

'Can I have a baby?'

'…no.' Haku finally answered. Technically, he wasn't lying. 'You have the necessary equipment and it's not out of the question that if sperm where to be added to the unfertilized eggs inside you, you might be able to create a fetus, but the female part of your anatomy is not fully developed, so you wouldn't be able to successfully carry it to term. The bay would die, and it might hurt you as well.' Which… didn't mean that in just a few months, Gaara could. The mutation process hadn't stopped at all, so…

'Why not? It bleeds.' said Gaara, looking a little disappointed 'Can you fix it?'

Haku seemed surprised.

'You want to have a baby, Gaara-san?'

Gaara looked at Haku a little quizzically.

'It can be yours, if you want to.'

'Ex-excuse me...?'

'The baby. It can be yours. You said the thing needs two different genetic informations. Then you can give me one.' he said, like if he was trying to explain something to a very little blond baby 'Was it untrue what you said?'

Haku slowly shook his head. very slowly.

'I... I`m flattered, Gaara-san, but you see... I don`t think Zabuza-sama will appreciate it... Or Naruto-san, for the matter. And even if I could -which I can`t- your body isn`t ready to have a child. You-' inspiration finally struck. 'You`d need to have several tests performed to be able to determine when and if you can successfully carry a baby to term.'

'Tests? I don't want tests!' said Gaara, then he backed down on a seat 'Then I don't want the magic chicken. You always have to destroy everything with tests.' Then he looked at Shikamaru and Temari, who were cuddled very closely together and grimaced. 'They didn't have to have any tests!'

'No, but Temari was born a female, she didn't have to grow her reproductive system when it didn't belong to her gender. And besides, she does have tests. She regularly gets checks up so we can monitor how Kushika-chan is doing and if she doesn't need anything else to be fine.'

Gaara didn't change his mimic. He only looked at Shikamaru and Temari again and got up, almost breaking the chair.

'I want to go home!' he howled in a very animalistic growl 'Now!'

'We are going, Gaara, but please try to behave properly.' Kakashi said calmly, placing a bookmark on the page he was in and getting up. 'But remember you promised to behave.' Temari pressed her face against Shikamaru`s chest and whined.

'Do you think if I click my heels and say `there`s no place like home` three times, the madness will be gone?'

'I sincerely doubt that, but it's worth a try.' murmured Shikamaru, opening one eye and closing it with annoyance 'Gaara, calm down...'

Gaara only seethed a loud sigh through his teeth and tensed up, looking at all of them. Then he turned on his heels and ran out of the room.

'Hey! Gaara, where are you going?' Iruka immediately ran after him. After getting attention in at least six halls, Gaara ran out of the building and stopped near their car, like an impatient dog.

'Home.' he spat in a thick voice that only could be a reminder of humanish voice.

Home they went. It was a nice, blissfully silent trip, with only Temari`s inner chants for `shower, bed, shower, bed` stopping her from doing strange things that would mark her too much as older sister to freak one and two, aka her brothers. By the time they arrived, Naruto was sitting outside next to Shino, who now that Kiba was gone had too much free time on his hands and didn't mind Naruto`s spazzy conversation at all. He was also there to make sure he didn't ran away, but with the fear Naruto had to crowded spaces outside the facility, there wasn't much risk at that. Either way, the blond jumped the redhead the moment he was out of the car.

Gaara caught him in his arms and actually carried him inside, hugging him tightly and ignoring the bug guy, because he never gave too much of a damn when it came to him. Shikamaru on the other hand, gave a little more damn, so he came to Shino and asked: 'Were there any problems with our favorite blond?'

'He spent most of the day missing you. In detail.' It was actually cute, if you thought about it. Naruto was a bit like Kiba, only more naive, and less explicit. He missed his best friend. Shikamaru didn't ask what 'in detail' meant. He was sure that he'd be lovesick too if he had to be in Naruto's place. With Temari on Gaara's place, of course.

'All right, then I guess we will go and sleep a bit, right, Temari?'

'And I will go tell Kabuto that we have new kind of problem.' said Iruka, then he looked at the cuddling two 'Has anyone told him how is birth done anyway? Because I don't remember discussing that...'

'So you went to do that and did all but that. Bravo, geniuses. And I'm the stupid one.' said Kankuro, who came by with a pack of chips and munched on them thoughtfully 'What were you doing for the whole day? Bought candies and watched movies or what?'

'That's pretty much what happened, yes.' Temari said, giving her brother a distracted one-armed hug that probably wouldn't have happened if she had been a bit more coherent. 'I'm off to shower. Then bed.'

Yeah, that sounded like a plan. Baby was heavy and she had spent most of the day with Gaara and half expecting to have to stop him from destroying things, and she was sooo glad she had brought Shikamaru along that she felt disgusted by herself. This lovesick newlywed aura had to disappear eventually. That Gaara sometime acted the same way with Naruto had to be coincidence, not part of their genetic makeup. Had to.

Kankuro looked at his sister like if she was drunk, then he shrugged and continued on eating from the big pack.

'I'll skip the shower, if that's the case, I'd fall asleep on the bathroom's tiles.' said Shikamaru and yawned, showing the world all his teeth 'Will wait for you.' That was actually a promise that he didn't really mean to fulfill, but it was good enough to show that he cared. He caressed his wife's hair slowly and kissed her on whatever place he could reach (which happened to be the right side of her face) and went to their room. Gaara, on his own terms, kissed the blond on the cheek and shot a glance at Temari, who looked to be staring at them.

'What, jealous?' he asked, and hugged Naruto even tighter 'That's mine, go find your own.'

'I married my own, idiot. I found it sooner than you, too.' The older blonde muttered, but was too tired to actually fight. 'I`m off, thank you guys for the help.'

Haku bowed politely and scurried off to probably find his owner/lover while Kakashi calmly walked off, still reading his little orange book, though he gave Kankuro a curious look a she passed by. Naruto made a happy sound at the fact Gaara didn't immediately push him away, but as the redhead just hugged him tightly he again started getting the feeling Gaara was bothered by something and he was sad for some reason.

'Gaara…?' he caught the redhead's face on his hands, looking at him worriedly. 'Did something happen? Were people mean to you?'

'No.' said Gaara, then he rummaged through his pockets and took out a big bag 'They gave me candies.' Then he looked at Kankuro who still stood near them and munched on his chips. 'What do you want?'

'My clothes back.' Gaara hissed, but he kicked off shoes he was wearing and quickly disposed of the coat, throwing it at Kankuro's face. His brother caught it with a reflex and rolled his eyes in annoyance, but he was too stuffed with his chips to actually comment on that. Gaara decided to not comment on the lack of comments and he just opened the bag to discover that they forgotten to buy him his salty candies.

'Those are for you.' he murmured, giving Naruto a handful of blindly grabbed sweets and has hidden the rest. He had to have some arguments when it came to Bambi. The blond yipped happily and clung to the redhead again, licking his lips twice before kissing him as he put his candies on his pocket.

'Thank you~!'

'Yeah, go hump like animals on discovery channel and so on.' muttered Kankuro and went away. Gaara looked at him with annoyance, but then he stiffed. He looked back at Naruto.

'Let's go have sex.' he murmured and grabbed the blond off the floor so he could kiss him and carry him in the same time.

'Huh?' The blond was a little curios, but really didn`t see any reason to say no to the redhead, so he just waved at Shino, who waved back, looking at the softly falling snow that had started just a moment before.

'...I miss Kiba.'

Kankuro coughed on his chips, then looked at Shino. He opened his mouth, but then he furrowed his eyebrows, looking at him. Could it be?...

'Yeah, Kiba.' he muttered then, and to cover the lack of anything intelligent in his talk, he stuffed himself up with junk food again. He rarely saw Shino 'missing' something. And if he was interested in this brat, then who was Kankuro to interfere? Gaara worked with Naruto, even if they seemed to be quite different. Less troubles for him. He munched on more chips. He lost his appetite. Oh, well. Those chips weren't all that great after all. He threw them out to the closest trash bin.

'Naruto reminds me of him. He acts like Kiba when you were around.' The younger man said, still staring at the empty space the pair had previously occupied.

'Naruto is just a naive squirt. Inuzuka is a sly bastard. Not same at all.' Kankuro slowly clapped his hands, getting any remains of chips off them. 'Why, you miss this jerky behavior?'

'I miss my friend.'

'Sure you do.' said Kankuro and rolled his eyes again 'Want me to mess with your butterfly collection to have the reminder of his friendship? I can do it even better than him, I assure you.'

'You are not Kiba.' the dark-haired teen said calmly, slowly walking away. 'Nothing you do can replace Kiba.'

Cryptic as always, the bug-addict disappeared down one of the hallways, leaving Kankuro alone.

'Yeah, just rub it in my face, do ya!' shouted Kankuro after him. He gritted his teeth and kicked the wall in anger. 'Nothing you can do can help', as always. He tossed his head, cracking the bones in his neck and decided to go to his room. Not that he had to do anything here, in the dark corridor. Not that his room would be anything different than this corridor.


	15. Femten

'Gaara?' Naruto helped the redhead take off his shirt, nuzzling against his chest and licking a pink nipple lightly, then nuzzling against the other`s throat. 'What`s the matter?'

'Nothing.' Gaara quickly advanced from his position and grabbed Naruto by face so he could kiss him wildly. He liked kissing. He really, really liked kissing the blond. 'I want sex.'

His hands moved rapidly, tugging on the blue shirt Naruto was wearing, then they gave up and went down to Naruto's bottom and grabbed it, squeezing tightly. After a moment, he started licking Naruto's jaw, nipping on the bare throat and started tugging on the shirt again, annoyed that he couldn't find a way out of the material. Naruto moaned into the kiss, pressing closer to the redhead, another loud moan escaping him as Gaara pressed against him so, so nicely. He moved against him. It was hard with Gaara glued to him and clutching the material, but he managed to reach the back of his shirt and after some maneuvering and it getting caught on his nose, he managed to shrug it off.

Once having an access Gaara almost immediately glued himself to Naruto's chest. He growled a bit at the smooth skin, showing that way he was glad he could touch it, and licked it and nipped up and down, not choosing any particular way. Once he met a nipple, he licked it like if he wanted to taste something extraordinary and new. He stopped by each of them a few times, while his hands stilled trailed new ways down blond's back and stroked his legs. Gaara groaned, feeling every twitch and shiver going down Naruto's spine and he forcefully laid them both down. Yes, that was it. Exactly it.

Naruto didn't know what was wrong with Gaara, but if the redhead hadn't given him a straight answer by the third time he asked, it really was better to stop before Gaara got annoyed at him and stopped talking to him or something. He'd been so excited about going out, but when he came back he had seemed angry at something, before dragging him to their room so they could do this- he arched lightly as Gaara nipped something that was feeling sensitive enough to make him whimper and try to press closer.

As usual, he wasn't particularly happy about having to be so submissive, but apparently if there was a day to let Gaara play and use him as he pleased, today was that day, because the redhead seemed more desperate than usual and he didn't know what had happened, but whatever it was, Gaara needed to have him to make himself feel better. And Naruto liked being needed, but over all, he liked being needed by Gaara, so he let the older boy play with him, obediently spreading his legs at the redhead's instance.

Gaara licked more of the glazed, mushy skin and traveled down till he reached the navel. He dipped in his tongue and closed his mouth, slightly scrapping the skin above it. Then he slowly removed the wet muscle and opened his eyes, looking at Naruto. The blond seemed to sense his thoughts but yet, seemed to be particularly afraid to go against him. Gaara moved his hand till he met the stiff member and massaged it slowly, while still picking on the skin above the navel. Mmm... He stopped and laid his head down, listening to the blood being pumped through Naruto's veins and he slowly started working the blond's cock along it. Yes. Even more like it. He licked the skin below him and laid his head down again.

Naruto first giggled at the feeling on his stomach, they are being a ticklish spot for him, but the giggles stopped abruptly in a strangled moan as Gaara suddenly put his hand on that part of him that had been sending mixed signals since Gaara had started licking him like that- he made a pleading noise, his hips shifting lightly to press more of himself against the redhead's hands. "Gaara, please…'

Gaara ignored him, still massaging the throbbing member. Yes, the pulse has quickened up. He breathed through his nose, feeling the known closure with nature. He knew that body. Yes. He slowed down his rubbing and got up again to kiss the skin below the navel, sensually feeling it's taste and structure. It was a bit wet and a bit salty, just Gaara's favorite taste. Naruto whimpered, trying to move again into the redhead's grip, his hand moving too slow and his tongue too close to be of any relief. 'Please-'

The redhead once again ignored him, letting go of the member completely and holding Naruto's hips down, so he could lick and kiss on the part of the skin he has chosen. He slowly moved up and traveled to the chest, more toying than playing. Naruto whimpered again in protest, but that didn`t seem to convince Gaara of anything, so the younger boy resigned himself to letting Gaara play with him until he was satisfied, his hand moving slowly up to wrap around the other and ranking his nails lightly down his back.

'...you are still wearing clothes.'

'I am.' said Gaara and sat up to get rid of his shirt. But since it wasn't a very easy task, he decided to leave it on and got back to kissing the skin, this time at the base of the neck - as well as front as both sides. He got to the jaw in a slow pace and nipped at the brim of the bone, like if he was trying to scratch the surface of it. Then he grabbed Naruto's head and turned it on the side so he could lick the skin below the ear and, after licking his lips, he started to go down. Again.

The blond made an uncomfortable noise at the bite and tried to move away. How come Gaara got mad if he touched his neck, yet he bit and sucked on his own whenever he wanted. He stopped the redhead from going down, pulling him up and kissing him for several seconds, licking Gaara's tongue and teeth as he rubbed himself lightly against the older teen's stomach. Gaara gave out a guttery groan in Naruto's mouth, then held the blond down and continued on kissing him, while Naruto's member could not rub him anymore. He wondered how long would it take until Naruto would actually start to do unimaginable.

The answer, of course, was not long at all. When pleading and whining didn't work, Naruto used his strength to forcefully pull Gaara against him, leaning up so he was sitting with Gaara on his laps and slid his hands under the other's shirt, pressing it against the other's chest as he continued kissing him.

'Nh...'

Gaara moaned again, feeling how hot was inside Naruto's mouth, tasting the saliva which was drizzling between them from the amount of desire and licked blond's canines, playfully nipping on the upper lip with the sharps of his teeth. Ahhh, the desire. Saliva drizzled down their chins lazily like if they were eating the finest dinner. Gaara felt like if he was about to. Maybe not eat. But drink.

Refreshing water, hot water, hot soup, oh. He ran his hands down Naruto's back lazily smoothing the skin, feeling the curves, touching the sweat and loving the heat. And when the smooth surface turned more curvy, he bit with his nails - not hard, not harsh, but merciless, leaving snippets of what could be real wounds, but wasn't. He groaned, purred in groan, groaned in purr, closed his eyes and breathed once, only once... Temperature in the room was so hot. It covered his skin like a lukewarm honey and all he felt was it's moving, it's slick movement against his skin and almost moaned in the cheer. Liquid. He fell forward, holding Naruto's head, maneuvering it again, massaging the scalp, turning it to the angles and he licked with his tongue up from the base of neck, not touching with mouth, breathing, breathing, breathing. His breath was sweaty against his mouth. Dirty. Sexy. And so was the slick skin. Oh. Almost like good water. Refreshing. Warm. His. It was living. It was breathing. It was his... Hot.

Gaara was making all kind of noises that had Naruto feeling like doing so much, like letting Gaara do anything he wanted to him as long he kept sounding so pleased and content and happy, his own answering noises as he licked and nibbled on whatever parts of Gaara he could reach. The younger boy thrust against the restrained hardness in Gaara's pants as the other dug his almost-sharp nails on his buttocks, pulling away from the kiss with narrowed eyes. "Stop.' He pulled the other away, a frown on his slightly flushed face as he forced Gaara upright again, hands on the redhead's ribs.

'Stop, stop. You are wearing too much.' Without any more warning he pulled the redheaded remaining shirt off of him, nipping lightly the other's shoulder and dipped his head down to lick the other's chest, sucking and licking his nipples until they were pink and stiff. Gaara was all pale skin, pink in places where he scratched and kissed him, and he was so, so so so much what he'd always, always wanted that he never could decide where to start and when to stop, so he didn't. He kissed everything Gaara let him and licked the rest.

Gaara's body wasn't as hot as it used to be when he'd been bleeding, but it did increase his temperature a lot when they played like this. Gaara was so warm that all Naruto could think of was how to get him warmer, his hands on the other's hips, then fumbling with the pants as he liked his stomach, bit his hip- He pulled the redhead's pants down to his tights before stiffening lightly at the odd scent that suddenly saturated their space when Gaara's skin.

'Hm-' The blond said thoughtfully, his mouth quickly going down and working the redhead's erection, coating it with his saliva as he licked just the tip, his thumb rubbing lightly against the underside of the head. Not this. Gaara's scent here was so very musky and like the taste, but the other scent was different. Without thinking, he slid a hand between Gaara's tights, surprised to feel something slick between them. But neither of them had come yet… His hand moved higher, spreading the slick whatever on the redhead's sacks lightly, and when his hand slid a little further, he blinked at how soft and hot that part of Gaara felt.

He'd seen the opening there a couple times, and it really reminded him of a wound. It felt swollen now, and incredibly hot. When he pressed his fingers lightly against it, he spread even more of that syrupy-thick slickness. Withdrawing his hand, he looked at what was smeared of it, some almost transparent fluid—he brought it to his mouth.

'…not blood.' He started cleaning his hand carefully, finding the taste to be somewhat addictive. It made him feel weird.

'Oh!' It really was all Gaara could do. Naruto undressed him and put him down, and when he wanted to drown into licking and tasting and drinking again, he was held and licked. Gaara moaned. Moaned guttery, feeling how hot, how wet and how vivid Naruto's tongue was against his skin and raked his fingernails along the skin of his back, from the backside to the head, feeling pleasured, feeling desired, feeling sexified... Oh.

The blond didn't stop there. He went for the main course. It felt dreamlike and wet and really, really arousing. He groaned, closed his eyes and massaged Naruto's scalp in slow, lazy strokes. Hi heart was beating in a steady, quickened up rhythm. One-two. One-two. One-two. So loud. Naruto's tongue was wet and his mouth were hot - it felt so lovely, so warm, so cozy that the air in the room froze. It froze against his lips, it rolled down with his saliva and wetted his skin, so frosty, so chilly so... Oh, oh my gods. It was warm but cold and Naruto was so nice, nice, nice... He felt something new.

His balls were soaking and Naruto was spreading the wetness around them. Then he felt 'it' being touched. His vog-... vagi-... gavoo-... The name didn't matter. He sucked up his breath, feeling how violent the air became - so heavy on his breasts, so thick in his nose, so hot on his tongue... New feeling. never felt it before. He breathed with his mouth open, gulped on the air, felt the slick, wet skin by one of his hands, stroking the neck, touching shoulder blades and the other one... he took it down down there- where- (more) where it- Naruto's hand was gentle and delicate against his skin. His hands were not as merciful. He pressed against the slick skin and felt the sticky (more) the glue, the thing, the SOMETHING and he shuddered. The air was so, so liquid... Drowning.

He lunged forward and caught Naruto's mouth and licked off the strange substance, licked his teeth, tasted his fluids and ravished along the jaw, the ear, the neck, the nipple... Oh, the nipple. Rosy, subtle, smooth. He rounded his tongue (hot breath) around it (hot breath) sensually (hot breath) and moaned at the pure feeling of the sweat against his tongue. Not much on the nipple as around it but it felt nice. Some sort of loud noise of delight escaped the blond as Gaara forced him down again, one hand burying in the blood red hair and stroking the other's scalp as he perfectly heard the slick, wet sounds of whatever Gaara was doing to himself down there continued. Gaara sounded like he liked it, and Naruto was so very happy with himself he'd found something new to make Gaara happy with.

'Let me lick it.'

Gaara normally wouldn't let him touch it at all, even when the redhead wanted him to be the alpha in their playing. It was hard when he did that, but it had never felt like this before, so they probably had been doing something different this time. He'd have to try later.

He caught Gaara and brought him up to kiss him so more with the effortless strength he displayed whenever he least thought about it. He needed a comfortable position to do this. Propping the redhead on some pillows they had kicked around with their playing, Naruto finished peeling the pants off the redhead and pulled the other's hips closer to his face, letting the older boy's legs rest on his shoulders as he bent down and licked the stiff cock lightly as he rubbed his thumb lightly against the wound-like thing. The skin gave under the light pressure, hot and sticky—he licked lower, running his tongue all over Gaara's balls as he moaned in content.

He stroked some more, then dipped his head even lower, licking all over the small orifice, the skin twitching lightly against his tongue, making him laugh. He liked again and again from top to bottom, his hands holding Gaara's legs. When more of the salty syrup came, he licked it off and then followed it inside Gaara, pushing deep. Gaara always liked it better when he used his mouth instead of his fingers.

Gaara choked. He wanted to moan at the pleasure, wanted to groan at the hotness, wanted to purr against the wetness... But he choked. It was so alien, so new, so different, and yet, somewhat the same, like fondling with the other orifice before... and yet, it was not. He twitched and gasped for the air, feeling the pressure, actual pressure of oxygen against his lips and shuddered again. His hands scratched blindly the surface beneath him, crawled as he tried to grab something- anything- He choked. Small gasps. Air felt restrained, unwilling to pass against his tightened throat, his nostrils flared but with no use. Shudder. Lick. Gasp. Shudder. Shudder. New feeling.

Naruto was deep... There... somewhere... so hot... his tongue was so hot... He shuddered more, more, more, caught Naruto's head and held on it tight, feeling, those hair, blond hair between his fingers, feeling more of the lapping and closed his eyes, slowly relaxing his spine. His head fell back, he felt the surface against the top of his head and gasped for the air, gulped, drank it... He opened his eyes, but saw so little, because it was blurry, void of color, ah (wet). His toes (deep) curled as the wetness of his opening increased (curl) and he let out one shaky breath after another, so unwilling, as it passed out off him ad didn't want to come back when he gasped for it.

'Na... Naru!...' Even his name couldn't pass. A little too little to moan, too much to breathe a little.

Naruto laughed a little again when Gaara's hand dug into his hair, at the hitch on his breath. Gaara really was too cute sometimes. It was all so very, very nice, the way Gaara's tights keep trembling against his shoulders and neck, the broken, clumsy way the redhead tried to press closer to his mouth—Naruto gave him whatever he wanted, even if the hand in his hair was a little too painful. When he got tired of pressing inside he continued licking just the lips of the wound-like hole. The syrup thing wasn't much different than Gaara's come, but it was somehow better, made Naruto as hot as Gaara's skin was. He quickly went back to stroking the other deep inside with his tongue, one hand reaching to feel Gaara's erection—It was wet, too. He wrapped his hand around it and started moving it as he kissed and licked, as he tried to eat Gaara inside out.

Now that was too much. His spine broke, angled itself in a paralytic, hunched way, where his breast was pushed upwards as his shoulder blades lied flat on the floor and he groaned. Loudly. Hoarsely. Out from his insides. Too much. (shudder) Too much! He got up on his elbows and crawled back, breaking the wet connection, going free from the hotness, feeling, actually feeling how his sweat rolled down his skin and how the thing pulsed with the beat of his head. Too much. His breath was shaky and airy and not restrained at all. He swallowed the saliva that pooled in his mouth and looked at Naruto with drunk gaze. Breath. Then he crawled back again and caught the blond in his arms and kissed him soundly, pressing on him, wanting them both to fall down, to climax.

He made quick moves with his hands, stroking Naruto's back and running down his abs, spreading his fingers in pubic hair, feeling it, curling around it, spreading it- Fu- He lunged down and took it into his mouth, as much as he could and started working down the shaft with a quick tempo. He barely felt the taste, more of the texture. Hot. Skin. Veins. Wet. Now it felt more like drinking. Naruto stared as Gaara moved away, an almost knowing expression on his slitted eyes as he licked Gaara off his lips and mouth. He let Gaara come back and kiss him, lick him and taste himself on his lips (salty, hot, all Gaara), let the older boy scratch and mark him and push him back again, his back against the wall, and the wall was *cold*. Gaara wasn't, so he tried to move closer to the other, when the redhead suddenly went down on him, his erection suddenly surrounded by hot, liquid heat and he made some sort of sound that wasn't quite pleading but that he didn't have enough of a mind to analyze, his hand going to Gaara's head and using the elongated nails to stroke the other's scalp lightly.

Gaara licked down the shaft thoughtfully, giving the balls extra attention as he tried to stroke the tip of the swollen member. It smelled like Naruto and tasted like salivated skin, only not there- Mmmh- He swallowed when he closed his mouth around the proud member and let his tongue massage the thick vein of it. He moved his head quickly, trying to not scratch it with his teeth and get as much pleasure of it as he could. It was arousing in its own twisted way as the hand massaged his scalp and as he slowly pressed his fingers, one by one, to the back of Naruto's tights and run the up, and down, feeling the texture and softness and also hardness and slickness of the sweat. He quickened his pace.

Now that was too much. His spine broke, angled itself in a paralytic, hunched way, where his breast was pushed upwards as his shoulder blades lied flat on the floor and he groaned. Loudly. Hoarsely. Out from his insides. Too much. (shudder) Too much! He got up on his elbows and crawled back, breaking the wet connection, going free from the hotness, feeling, actually feeling how his sweat rolled down his skin and how the thing pulsed with the beat of his head. Too much.

His breath was shaky and airy and not restrained at all. He swallowed the saliva that pooled in his mouth and looked at Naruto with drunk gaze. Breath. Then he crawled back again and caught the blond in his arms and kissed him soundly, pressing on him, wanting them both to fall down, to climax. He made quick moves with his hands, stroking Naruto's back and running down his abs, spreading his fingers in pubic hair, feeling it, curling around it, spreading it- Fu- He lunged down and took it into his mouth, as much as he could and started working down the shaft with a quick tempo. He barely felt the taste, more of the texture. Hot. Skin. Veins. Wet.

Naruto stared as Gaara moved away, an almost knowing expression on his slitted eyes as he licked Gaara off his lips and mouth. He let Gaara come back and kiss him, lick him and taste himself on his lips (salty, hot, all Gaara), let the older boy scratch and mark him and push him back again, his back against the wall, and the wall was *cold*. Gaara wasn't, so he tried to move closer to the other, when the redhead suddenly went down on him, his erection suddenly surrounded by hot, liquid heat and he made some sort of sound that wasn't quite pleading but that he didn't have enough of a mind to analyze, his hand going to Gaara's head and using the elongated nails to stroke the other's scalp lightly.

He lied there. It was cold. The sweat has gotten stale and sticky, the evidence of their lovemaking stained sheets in damp (and not wet) spots and their breathe has slowed down. Aftermath. It's been a slow, cold aftermath. Because Gaara didn't try to cover himself up, his body has gotten chilly, but he didn't bother with that. His thoughts has calmed down, that was really what's mattered. He blinked, then looked at his love mate and extended his hand to stroke his head. Blond hair always were so soft and shiny. Now they were a little damp, but still had their nice texture. Lovely. He crawled closer and lied so close their foreheads touched, still stroking blond hair. Yes, that was it. Slow and sensual breathing.

The blond made a sleepy, whiny noise and leaned up, nuzzling the other's forehead, then licking the kanji. He wasn't really asleep yet- he was still aware of his surroundings and instinctively knew that Gaara was close. He had waited for the other to want to be closer, and now that Gaara seemed to want to be held, he did that. Stretching an arm across the other's waist, he brought the other's pale body closer to his own and concentrated on being warm for the other. It was easy, so very easy to do this now. It hadn't been when he'd been asked for it by the scientist. He thought he had wanted to be nice to them so they'd in turn be nice to him. It wasn't like that, because it was much easier when he wanted to do it for Gaara. Gaara was so very, very different from him, and Naruto was just learning to give him space when he needed it. That time of waiting was over and now he did what came naturally to him.

'Love you,' he mewled, kissing the other's nose, his lips. 'I'm happy that you found me.'

Gaara purred out of his chest and closed his eyes, leaning to steal some more slow and chaste kisses. They were making smacking sounds and weren't that really wet, but were enjoyable. Gaara sighed into blond's lips and backed off slowly, looking into blue eyes, mesmerized.

'Me you too.' he murmured, feeling how air became a little heavy from affection 'Wouldn't leave my baby, ever.'

Naruto blushed a little and smiled, so happy from hearing such a thing no one would believe it.

'I'm not a baby.' he said, using his nails to trace Gaara's skin lightly. 'But yes. Keep me forever, I want to stay with you.' Gaara smiled lightly.

'I will.' he said and kissed blond on the forehead 'I will keep you. Now and when you grow up.' He cuddled closer, entwining their legs together, feeling good in warm embrace. He slowly stroked Naruto's head, arms and side now, liking the feel of smooth skin and enjoying the scrapping feeling on his back. If he didn't know any better, he'd say Naruto turned into animal right now.

'I will keep you at any cost...'

The younger boy nuzzled against his hand and cuddled Gaara closer when the other shifted, blue eyes half closed as he continued lightly scratching the redhead's back and sides, content with remaining in silence for a little while. If he could always stay with Gaara…

'You looked nice with Kankuro's jacket.' he said suddenly, closing his eyes in a silly smile. Gaara closed his eyes and breathed deeply, ignoring the fact that he probably looked like some idiot in a coat that was two sizes too big for him.

'And you look good naked.' he murmured, and started trailing patterns on Naruto's shoulder. The silence was eerie and he loved such times - just like at the breakdown - best times was in-between night and day.

'Hee~' the blond nuzzled the other and used a hand to pull the rumpled blankets from between the wall and the floor and pulled the redhead closer so he could wrap himself around him. 'Where did you go?'

'Candy store.' Gaara caught the blankets, that Naruto so carefully tucked around him and tossed it above his head, so he was all hidden under it. And so was Naruto. 'Then... a cinema. Watched a baby movie.' He thought for a moment more then didn't speak more. Talking about broken balls and worms would be too awkward.

'Huh?' Naruto huddled closer to the other, one thumb brushing the other's scar. 'You watched a movie with Kushika-chan?'

'The baby was asleep. Why are you touching it nonstop?' Gaara caught Naruto's hand and lowered it down, so he could look at the blond's fingers. Nothing suspicious there. 'It was about baby being done... at least prettyface told me so.'

'Dunno.' the blond answered with a pout, leaning to kiss the redhead again 'It's there, just want to touch it.' He wanted to touch Gaara in general. And because something had upset Gaara and he wanted to love him, and the scar said love, so touching it made sense to him.

'With the having sex, yes?' Iruka sensei had already explained him most of the things. Lots of weird names and funny shaped things made a baby, and then the baby had to stay in a girl's tummy until it was big enough to be let out safely.

'No, there was no sex. Only a lot and lot of worms.' He almost mouthed those words into Naruto's mouth as the other leaned to kiss him. He closed his eyes briefly, tasting the pleasurable action, and then looked down at fingers he was still holding. After a second of thought, he just kissed them with pleasure and gave them back to Naruto, laying them on blond's cheek. Along with his own fingers. 'They said I can have baby too. Can...' A moment of hesitation. 'could.' Then he frowned lightly. 'Mine is broken.'

'Broken?' Naruto stiffened and moved slightly up, eyes wide even in the dark under the blanket. Naruto thought babies were funny things and he was interested in them, but just that. He didn`t share Gaara`s obsession with them, but he knew that and he himself were the reasons that Gaara had a new hole thing there. And that somehow hurt Gaara. But being broken- 'Are you hurt?'

'No.' Gaara scrunched his nose. He couldn't really tell if it was supposed to be able to tell the difference. All this was a break in his body. He never had something like that before, so how he was supposed to tell if it was broken or not? 'I don't understand it myself.'

Naruto looked worried, but after a few seconds of staring at the redhead, he just wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer, a worried frown in his face. Gaara, being broken...

'Is that why you are sad...?'

Gaara didn't protest, for the first time in his life, when somebody else hugged him close. He let his head fall forward, so his eyes were hidden and buried himself in the crook of Naruto's neck.

'I want babies.' he murmured softly in almost, almost pleading tone.

'Okay.' the blond said simply, curling around Gaara and kissing the top of his head. He'd have to talk with Iruka-sensei again... He wished Kiba were still here. Kiba usual was more direct, even if he knew less, and didn't make things so long his attention wondered. He'd ask Neji and Haku and Shikamaru and whomever else might know what was wrong with Gaara and why couldn't he have do it and then… 'I'll fix you and get you babies.'

Gaara sighed, then slowly nodded, kissing the skin under his mouth. His little ball of sunshine really was something if it believed it could do something like that. Maybe he could? Gaara had no idea if believing him wouldn't be worse, but nothing could be worst from the sadness he already felt in his life. He grabbed Naruto and cuddled him even closer and sighed. Perfect position to forget. 'Love you.' he whispered so quietly he was sure nobody else heard them, including dust on their sheets. Now he could forget. With those words, he slowly fell asleep.


	16. Shiliù

It took a lot of courage for Temari to finally decide to talk with someone. Maybe that's the reason why she slammed it open and stood on the frame, more like if she was facing a battlefield than the room her brother was being forced to share with albino man. Dang, she'd forgotten about him. She wasn't going to talk shit with that guy hanging around.

'Get out of here, I want to talk to my brother.' she said, narrowing her green eyes on the man's pale face. Tall, gloomy and pale stared back evenly.

'I was ordered to stay with him at all times. I`m not-'

'Get out of here or I'll tell Shika you punched me in the stomach.'

Kimimaro stared at her. And stared. And stared. Then he went to his closet, opened it, tossed out a few clothes and walked out of the door.

'That's it, the contract said that I can break it if I'm being threatened by a psycho-murderer in affections who wants to kill me with unusual weapon. I believe you husband likes his shougi board.' And the doors closed. Kankuro looked at them in silence.

'I don't know if to laugh at this or to thank you.' he said then 'I guess I'll just keep on staring at you like if you didn't exist.' And he did just that. The older girl just rolled her eyes and walked closer, snatching the puppeteer hat off his head and sitting down next to him, using an elbow to force the taller male to make same room to sit next to him in his bed. Really odd for Temari. She was actually touching the younger boy, even if she was turning the hat around in her hands and looking decidedly discontent.

'…'

'Hey, that's mine!' Kankuro really didn't like when somebody was taking the cap off his head. He lost it once, he didn't want to go through this again. But he decided to leave it since Temari looked stressed out about something. It had to really be something strange if she came with it to him and not anyone else. Kankuro put on his grim face and asked: 'What. Spill the beans.'

Temari snorted (very unfemininely) and considered bunching it. Then decided that wouldn't be mature and put in what was left of her lap, still not looking at her younger brother.

'I`m… I don`t-' she rubbed her forehead, teeth gritting. How the hell did she explain this.

'I don't like my apples fried too.' said Kankuro helpfully and then looked straight in front of himself. 'Is there something else you want to tell me?'

'…'

Temari slumped against him. Her back did, at least, as she was still facing away from him. 'I'm not ready for this.' She said in a slow, thoughtful voice. 'I'm—I'm really… I can't do this.'

Kankuro looked at her from behind his shoulder, then got back to staring at the door.

'I don't get what are you talking about. You can do everything.'

'I can't do this. I don't know how.' she pulled the cap to her chest 'I mean, can you see me as a mother?' she asked in a bitter chuckle. She couldn't. Zabuza could probably beat her on a mother contest. A guy that carried a Final Fantasy sword around for shits and giggles and that had his teeth filled as a bet could probably do a better work than she could. Fucking his ward aside.

'How? I can barely remember mine. I don't know what mothers do. I don't think I can do things mothers are supposed to do. The more I think about it, the more I realize I'll probably end up like- like him.' What a nice day, the moment when you wake up and realize that you are set for ruining your kids life! '…and then she'll hate me.'

Kankuro looked at her for awhile in silence. Hearing something like that from his own sister... something he didn't even expect to hear from her... He blinked, then his stare hardened.

'I'm not a good role for a parent.' he said slowly 'I used to drink, I have depression, my life is not worth a glance. But I swear.' he paused, then his hands curled into fists. Then uncurled. He gulped down the thick saliva he was holding in his mouth. 'I swear.' he repeated in a less harsh tone 'That if I ever catch you messing up this kid, I'll take it and you won't ever see it again. You got that?'

Silence.

Then he breathed out all air he was holding and smiled.

'But what the hell are you talking about, you and that crazy husband of yours? I bet he is already married to both of you and you will have to really fight for affection when Kushika is born. He won't let you go wrong, he adores you both too much.' Then he ruffled her hair just as he used to ruffle Naruto's hair, even if he knew she always complained it destroyed her hairstyle. 'You will be an A plus mother, I assure you.'

The older girl stiffened at Kankuro`s words, a heavy blanket of panic settling on her at the idea of getting her child stolen, but it was the brunet's words afterwards what seemed to get the most to her.

'But-' she sniffed, telling herself her eyes were all itchy because she was allergic to Akamaru`s hair. Never mind the fact the little dog hadn't set foot in this room for months now. 'Of course he'll be great. He knows what a family is like. Just look at him, his mother probably was a supermom or something, and what about me? I didn't have a mother, I let my little brother get stolen, I dropped out of school and let you there all alone, then came back to drag you around with me-'

She slowly turned around, fixing the younger boy green eyes clouded with tears, her teeth clenched as she held onto her self control so as not to burst into tears. She hadn't come here to cry, but that didn't seem to make any difference to her stupid, hormone-ridden body. It had been easier back then, to pretend she knew what she was doing- It always made her feel stupid, looking at her past and realizing that she'd done, to herself, to her younger brothers. Stupid and young and clueless, but now it also made her feel guilty. It took realize you are about to be completely responsible for someone else's life than makes you realize how royally you messed up things in the past.

'And it's not just Gaara, it's you too. I should have taken better care of you too. And because of me—I know you didn't want to do those things. I'm sorry I forced you to do it, I really thought it would help. I'm sorry you had to take care of me.' Because if she was alive after all these years, it was because she had Kankuro. Because it was easy to be strong and reliable and ballsy when you knew you had someone you could trust, when you had someone looking out after you, someone that wasn't going to stab you in the back. They hadn't been able to trust Gaara before, and they hadn't been able to trust anyone since they found out the reason their younger brother had disappeared was because he had been sold to be experimented with.

Kankuro stiffed, then looked at his own hands. When this became an apologizing session? If he knew it would come out this way, he'd leave with Kimimaro.

'Yeah, well, uh, sure, whatever.' he murmured and shrugged, feeling uneasiness creeping up his back. It's not like he could do something about it back then 'What's happened that happened there's no possibility to undo it, so just forget it. It will be all right with the baby, Nara will show you how to do it or you can ask his mother about... stuff...' He glanced at her but quickly reverted into staring at his own hands. She was crying and he wasn't good enough with comforting. And it was too unusual.

'I don't know what to do now, either.' she said quietly. She slowly leaned against his shoulder, unhappily noticing her little brother also towered over her even when sitting. When had she gotten so small and fragile? 'I thought I could go back to target and elimination but if something happened to me…'

She'd only gotten caught once. That once she'd barely survived to tell the story. Which she'd never done. If anyone else ever learnt about it hadn't been from her, because as far as she cared it had never happened. It had been a slip and that was it, or so she'd told herself for six years. It was easy to recover from slips. Hers had taken four months and more plastic surgery than she would have cared for.

'I don't know what would happen to Shikamaru. And… I don't want her to have live like us.' She might end up a crappy mother, but at least she wanted her kid to be able to say she had one.'And I'm afraid of telling Shika because I know he wants me to quit. I know he's waiting to press me on it at some moment where he'll have advantage, but… he already convinced me of marrying him and having his spawn. I don't want to feel like if I'm doing everything just because he told me so, but I don't know what to do, either.'

'But you've already decided.' said Kankuro 'Whatever your husband has to say in that matter it's his agreement to your decision and not yours to his. Or is it that you're telling me you don't know whether you want this squirt to have a mother?' Kankuro looked at her then got up from the bed, stretching his spine slightly. 'I hope you're not.' Then he glanced at her from above his shoulder. 'Because think what a shame it would be to know that your mother is a murderer.'

Temari laid back on the bed and threw an arm over her eyes.

'I guess.' When had she stopped caring about killing someone? She usually felt nothing for her victim. There were good enough reasons to kill them and that was all. The only death she clearly remembered had shaken her had been her uncle… She hadn't intended to kill him… but she had wanted to. She'd done it just for that. A bit for her brothers, and a bit for herself, but mostly because the mere idea that such a person could have lied to them so thoroughly, that said person was living the grand life while they were hiding like rats and trying to fix something so broken there didn't seem to be any hope left… She said she'd done it because he would have given them away, and that was true. But only partially. She sighed. 'I'm really not ready for this. There's not enough time to figure things out.'

'Will lifespan be enough?' Kankuro turned around and pushed his hands into his pockets. His face was nothing but an empty mask.

'It should. It`s the only time we`ve got.'

Kankuro didn't change his face's mimic.

'Then you have your answers. Anything else?'

'Gaara wants to have babies. With Haku.'

Kankuro grimaced like if he had bitten the sour lemon.

'That was a joke in totally bad taste.' Yeah, and what else? He wanted to dance on the moon? Like if he wasn't doing a show with himself and Naruto already.

'I wasn`t joking.' she wiped at her eyes, staring at the younger boy.

'Gaara is not capable of having... kids. He is dangerous. Even if he has vagina, he will kill them once they're born. And... with Haku?' Kankuro looked at Temari again. 'Wasn't he having an affair with that big guy with sharp teeth?' That was not happening.

'Actually. He is. Will be, at least.' that's what she'd gathered from Kabuto. Once his jaw had healed enough for him to start talking again. 'And... I really don't know. Haku scared him by saying that he'll have to get tested constantly and even so, the kids might not be born… But the truth is that he could have a perfectly viable pregnancy in less than a year, if he keeps changing at the rate he has.' Not to mention the fact Naruto was changing too… slower than Gaara, and differently than him, definitely not going for a sex change… But still, changing to adapt. She had the feeling the Akatsuki had no idea what a Pandora Box they had been messing with.

'I don't think they've used it for sex yet, but it's a matter of time. Kabuto thinks that if Gaara is having a period, he will know when it's the best moment to get pregnant and unconsciously try to do it.' She frowned, trying to push herself up to a sitting position. Pregnant belly got in the way and she had to roll on her side and push herself sideway to get it right. 'What do we do if he gets pregnant?'

'I drink till I die.' Kankuro looked at her belly, then imagined Gaara. His little nice brother having a big sweet belly. With miniGaaras inside and evilNarutos also. 'Yeah. definitely till I die. What are you expecting me to do? Grab his hand and give him a walkthrough during a male pregnancy or something? It's not like I was pregnant ever before, mind you.' Then he stopped and thought for a moment. 'And that newest rob is just a pure coincidence.'

'I told you it makes you look like a fatass Satanist nun.' apparently, that had been Kankuro's cue to buy it. She absently wrapper her arms around her stomach, rubbing lightly. 'Do you really think he'd kill a baby of his own… He's so careful with Bambi…'

'Well, your newest scarf is totally unsexy too! And lemme guess, you're gonna wear it after pregnancy too.' Then he turned his back to her, apparently touched. Maybe it made him look fat but hell, was it comfy. He liked comfy. 'It's your kid. His own spawns will annoy him and he'll kill them once they make too much noise in the wrong time.'

'Do you think Naruto would let him..?'

'Do you think he will not once Gaara whines they hurt him?'

'I can`t see Naruto killing anything...' she made a face. '...not without him having gone mad before. And Naruto whines a lot more than anyone else I`ve ever met, and Gaara doesn`t seem to mind.'

'Because he l-! No, wait. That sounds totally wrong.' Kankuro slapped his face and looked at Temari with distaste 'What are YOU gonna do once he gets pregnant?'

'I don`t know.' now she made a face as if she`d tasted something sour. 'Not let Kabuto near without an uzi, probably.' Magical hands, nice smile... and she didn`t like him. Not one bit. She trusted him as a doctor, but the man was here as a chance to study mutations like Gaara and Naruto. if they had babies she wouldn`t leave them alone with the man if someone paid her for it.

'I don't know, he was pretty helpful back in the days...' Kankuro stopped. But it was then. And now was now. 'He won't be that bad, probably.'

'I don`t like him. He reminds me of a praying mantis.' Yeah, that comment made absolutely no sense, but hopefully Kankuro would get the idea. 'Do you think the Hyuugas would try anything?' Not that Neji and Hinata would. Both of them would probably tear their precious eyes before hurting anything related to Naruto, but the other ones...

'They'd want to babysit and coo at them.' Kankuro looked at Temari as if she asked him if cookies were unhealthy 'Of course they will! I bet they'd cooperate with Kabuto and try to separate the family to get some nice observations done. Kids will grow up without parents, in metal cages.'

Her hands tightened around her stomach.

'They didn`t care when we left with Gaara.' but they had known where they were, hadn't they...?

'Because what else is there to tell? They had him under observations long enough to get bored by them. And now they're showing new interesting features they'd want to investigate again.' Kankuro looked at her and noticed she was a little more stiff than before. 'Chill out or your husband will slaughter my balls for stressing you.'

'I`ll tell him it was Kimimaro.' she said, obviously not really paying attention to what they were talking about. 'I hate this place.' she muttered, her expression turning into the more familiar one of irritation. 'I`ve met nice people here, but I`m tired of feeling like a lab rat. I hate to admit it, but Neji lets us get away with a lot of things. If he happened to get replaced, we`d be screwed.'

'It's only because you're married to a good friend of his. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't let us go with many things he actually did.' Kankuro finally sat down on his bed again, feeling how it bended under his body weight. 'We can always go back to this mice hole in the middle of nowhere. We'd be alone as hell, but we won't be lab rats.'

'Can`t do, Shika wants his little princess to go to an appropriate kindergarten, appropriate preschool and the X school for gifted teenagers.' And God, she hated it there. 'And you never finished fixing the boiler.' One more cold shower and she`d kill someone. Kill.

'You forgot to add that I never knew how to repair boilers to begin with. The thing was too old to my 'go through in steps' book' said Kankuro 'And I wouldn't want to go back there too, I'd commit suicide in this silence...' Then he slowly massaged his face, smearing another paint over his face yet again. 'Where will you find a preppy school for this kid? Doesn't it mean you will get a new place to stay or something? We can't send them off from this base.'

'I don't know. Shika must have something going on in that lazy, genius head of his, and he won't tell me because it'll `stress me`.' She babied the last words, pouting in what she considered righteous anger. Shikamaru had actually made a list. A list of all the things that were stressful and she was absolutely not to do. Like straighten up the bed a bit in the morning. Or watch 'drawn together' because she found it hilarious and too much laughing could cause spontaneous abortions. Just like standing too close to people that spontaneously bellowed about the springtime of youth. Or putting on her own socks (though she had to admit the last one was actually useful, considering she hadn't been able to see her own feet without some hardcore stretching and gymnastics included.) Any moment now, he'd start wanting to regurgitate processed food into her mouth so she wouldn't have to `stress` over chewing it.

'Kankuro, never get pregnant. You stop belonging to yourself and become baby container for nine months, then `someone's mother`'. Oh, God. She had stopped being a woman. The moment the baby was out, she was going to be her mother. Till the day she died. With a shaky moan, she slumped against her younger brother's back. '…either way, I'm not leaving without you two.'

Kankuro leaned forward with a slight 'oomph' as two heavy bodies in one bumped against him, but he held her up, as a gentleman he was (never tell a woman she weights too much, that was a harsh lesson he learned once and... he didn't even want to remind himself how it went).

'Never would dream of it.' he said calmly, trying to cope with the mood swing he was just getting. Yeah, that was what was missing. Him being pregnant. Three siblings being pregnant... he was left out even of this circle of adoration even now. Even if the idea repulsed him. Since always women were round, cushy and pregnant. And now his brother wanted to have a baby, his sister had a baby and...

'I have nowhere else to go anyway.' he murmured, then looked at the wall in front of him. Jesus, why did Inuzuka had to scrap those doodles there? The paint was something Neji never wanted to give away as he ominously believed it was a waste of money. 'I bet he is hiding it in his room and eating when no one's watching.' he thought grimly 'Maybe that's why all Hyuuga's have those white eyes. The Coral Paint.''

'Pfff.' Temari snorted in her usual, unladylike fashion. 'You kidding? You could go to New York and be artistic. You would probably make a fortune if you sold those puppets you make.'

Temari wasn't being complimentary. She wasn't complimentary at all on a daily basis, and had no reason to start now. She wasn't in the busyness either, but even her untrained eye could tell what her brother spent painstakingly doing for months on end wasn't the kind of thing you sold at five bucks the piece on a bus station. How did someone with such big hands make all those tiny, complex mechanism and intricate patterns, she would never know.

'And to top that they are, what's the words you use… rare? Vintage?' Almost no one made puppets by hand nowadays. Even rarer were the ones with the level of work his hand. Pure masochism, in Temari's opinion.

'You can go and sell them if you want, I bet Kushika will need a lot of money.' he said carelessly 'Only leave Karasu out of this.' Maybe they were rare as he could never spot anyone doing puppets by hands anymore (beside old gramps here and there) but his own never satisfied him and he always found them useless after that. What was the point of having a theatre when everybody were too busy to look at the act? Not that he was good in acting anyway. It only helped his hands when he was starting to itch for sharp things. Hurting wood instead of hurting himself was somehow more relieving. And Karasu? It was a first puppet he made. Sentimentality things.

'Never. Those things would probably come back, just for my soul.' Maybe that's why she had never really been able to appreciate much of what her brother did… Puppets scared her. She could tell that Kankuro's were definitely beautiful and complicated things. But they still were puppets, they still moved weirdly and they still freaked her out. The idea was tempting, though. Maybe she should discuss it with Shikamaru… aaand there she went again. Why did she have to talk everything with him? Why should she want to do it? Since when did she need someone's opinion, besides her own?

'…love sucks.' she concluded wisely. 'Makes you do weird things and act like an idiot.' she would never, ever have consciously agreed to get pregnant at this point in her life for anyone else.

'They're just dolls. Wood and paint patched over it...' Great. And now he was being thought of as a maker of voodoo dolls. Maybe he really should've think about getting better hobby. He sighed, wondering what he could do. Make up? No. He tried that already and nobody appreciated his masks. Clothes? He couldn't really sew anything that was not a piece of rags on the wooden doll... 'Am I of use in anything at all?' he thought, listening only halfheartedly to what his sister had to tell him. Love. Bah. Sinnister's dream.

'That's why I'm not trying to get into this weird stuff.' he said out loud. Kiba probably wanted him to, as he acted very openly about his intentions. But when he looked at Mr. Genius and Mrs. His-Sister he wondered what he did in previous life to deserve such maniac. His sister's life was kind of like out of the movie. A little of Lion King, bits of Tomb Raider and Beauty and the Beast at the end. Or more like Tomboy and the Lazy. Shreks. And when the baby will be out it will probably turn into some Family Guy happy&romantic version and without all those strange gags and literal jokes.

Like a movie. And Gaara was not better. Taken away, unknown for the most, wild at the end, loved by his own species when there were only like ten of those in the world. And even if they were both males, giving birth to a baby was also possible. Talk about luck and great amounts of those. Compared to them he was... _'Nonexistent.'_

'Yeah, love sucks for such a lazy ass for a husband and hungry monster in your stomach.' he said, then chuckled. 'I don't envy you, it must be living hell to go through all those 'non stresses' done by Nara. But at least you know he cares.' He straightened, then snapped his knuckles, one by one, stretching his back. 'It's only a few weeks.'

Temari straightened as well, leaning as she was on his back, and stared quizzically.

'And you think I never liked any doll I was given because of a personal vendetta against all things feminine?' Understatement of the century. Temari's favorite color was purplish pink. Pinkish purple. Pink, at any rate. She had more skirts than pants in her wardrobe and loved to wear them (she didn't need Shikamaru to nip her tights to know she had great legs… appreciated, sure, but not needed.) And she had a freaking purple and hot pink butterfly on her shoulder blade. There wasn't any more girlish design on earth on earth. She just found dolls in general ungodly creepy.

'I know… I was really lucky. I don't know why, but I do… love Shikamaru. And he's lazy and whiny, but I think he loves me too.' She stroked her stomach absently, feeling a faint kick from the she-monster inside. Only a couple weeks more… 'It`s not easy, though. Sometimes I look at myself and all I want to do is pack everything and get the hell out of here. How can I trust so much someone that isn't-' she made a face, trying to decide what she wanted to say, because the first answer to finish that sentence was somehow wrong. She came out empty, and so her answer was voiced. '…you.'

Kankuro snorted, looking at his own hands. They were big and fractured, wearing memories of what he (what they) went through to get here and what was after that.

'Please, don't talk nonsense.' he said tiredly, smearing the paint completely off his face 'If anyone, Nara is the most trustworthy human here, don't throw him away only because you want to get the hell out of here for some obstacles that happen.' Wasn't she ridiculous. For the things she was saying, those were the most laughable from them all. So far.

'Yeah, but why is he so trustworthy? How do we know we can trust him? How do I know that? He wasn't there when we were kids.' He wasn't in that hellish house with a family that was so broken and misshapen that it seemed they were striving for it. 'He wasn't there—after. Either. When everything went down.'

When things got so bad, so goddamn creepy she had to leave the house or risk going mad from it, like her father apparently had. Or after, when she tried to get back and realized things had only gotten worse. Maybe that's why she had wanted to find Gaara so badly… Maybe she had thought that things would go back to normal if everyone got back to the place they were supposed to be in. And could she have trust Shikamaru to help her the way Kankuro had? Could she had trusted anyone?

'You were. You were the only one.' The only one that had stayed by her no matter how crazy, how dangerous things had gotten. The reason why she wasn't dead, while she was at it. Impulsively, she took his hand, ignoring the sticky make up.

'He wasn't but he will be now. For longer than forever or I will be the one to teach him things about life.' He squeezed the hand in his own palm and tiredly, got out one of his paper handkerchiefs and started cleaning the femalish fingers. Men and women really were different and it could be visible by simple comparison of hands. It felt strange to hold it again, like if she was the little baby and he was even smaller, but tried to play the big brother like always. Men's pride.

'Does that mean I'll get free dinner on Sundays for the rest of my life?' he said, chuckling 'Such debt is so hard to pay... not that I would want you to pay anything to me. I was in the same situation as you, Temari, don't forget that. We both didn't have any choice. Who knows, maybe if I had...' He stopped for a moment, thinking. Yeah. He wasn't as good as he looked like. '...maybe if I had, I would run away.'

'You really trust my cooking that much? I wouldn't mind living from Yoshino`s leftovers the rest of my life.' Bitching aside and the fact Shikamaru looked so goddamn happy that she and her mother were already daring back hackles and raising nails, that dinner had been the best food she'd had in an estranged number of years. 'I think anyone would.' herself included. 'But I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.'

'Same to you, Temari. Same to you.' Because really, what else was he supposed to say? Not that it wasn't true, because it was. Just that he felt he was missing something here. His sister was admiring him like she never did - either she was having mood swings or ate too much of those mushrooms when Shikamaru wasn't looking and he completely couldn't see what for. He was there, all right. he helped her, because he was her brother, and dammit, he loved her, as much as he could as a brother. Anyone would do the same in his place. It sounded kinda funny to hear that though. But he decided not to laugh at this. Temari sounded too serious. 'I don't think it's that bad. I wouldn't mind something sweet done from you from time to time... just use the right portions.'

'It`s not my fault they aren't more specific with them!' Really- pinch of salt? What the fuck was a pinch of salt? The kind of pinches she used on Shikamaru`s neck when he did something annoying? Or when Naruto did something particularly adorable and she pinched his cheek and pulled while restraining the urge to cuddle him like a puppy? Specifics, damn it. 'Fine. I`ll try something when I don't have a watermelon from hell strapped to my waist and trying to weight me down.'

'Yeah, sure. I can wait a few weeks, all right.' To tell the truth, it was a little relieving he had to wait those weeks. Temari's cooking really wasn't all that edible and he really wanted to live a little longer. Or rather - live for the small rest of his life in quite good health. Other than that, he didn't have objections. He let go of her hand and smiled. It was true that women in pregnancy were more beautiful. Her nails were good for problems she had with them nonstop. The baby was obviously doing her good, despite her and her husband complaining about it (well, Shikamaru was more like complaining 'why isn't it there yet', but still). 'Just don't feed your kid with your cookies until you learn how much is 'a few' and 'a pinch', okay?'

'It's not my fault cooking books aren't more specific.' She could follow recipes that came with an accurate set of instructions. Which amounted to three, to date. And they were good, even if they couldn't compare with Yoshino`s cooking. 'As for Gaara getting pregnant… I guess we better worry for that when it happens. Er, if… who am I kidding, it's gonna happen. They go at it like bunnies, as it is.'

At least It did wonders for improving Gaara's mood, besides creating ovaries out of thin air. Kankuro only went stiff for mere moment. But there was no point in lying to himself. It will happen.

'I just... would want to avoid seeing it once it happens.' he muttered, fiddling with his fingers. 'It's not healthy to see something like that.'

'Well, just look at the bright side. When the great God Chtulu rises and starts its campaign to rule the world, we`ll already be mad enough to speak Lovecraftian.'

'I don't want to.' Kankuro grimaced at the image. He wasn't really a fan of such solutions. 'Do you think I could hide in my room for nine months in a row to not see it?'

His sister gave him a complex look.

'Maybe getting away from us a bit would do you some good...' She knew they had their issues... and obviously being with them wasn't helping Kankuro`s own much. 'Do you want to have a transfer for some while...? I could talk to Neji.'

'Yes, sure, why not.' Really, why not? He'd be left alone at last. no panting redheads getting it on with blond puppies, no bitchy Hyuuga over him or pregnant sister near him, just as her overprotective husband. Everyone would be damn away and he'd have possibility to sit in dark corner and sniff the wall. He'd always wanted to be ridden of anyway. 'With pleasure.'

The blonde woman narrowed her eyes at him angrily.

'Kankuro, don't try to be dramatic with me, it doesn't work. I'm asking you because I want you to get better, not act like if I'm sending you to the Bermudas triangle.' Her hands wrapped around her stomach and she started to pet it in her distress, walking to a corner of the room and looking at the several CD`s lying around without really recognizing more than two of the bands. 'I'm not good at guessing. So please tell me what do you need to feel better so I can give it to you.'

And if Kankuro knew her and how close she was to his precious tapes on Kabuki theater, he`d be smart enough not to be a smartass and say 'alcohol'. Kankuro looked at her tiredly, then sat back at the table, watching her with dull glare. She really was a fine woman, but the pregnancy made her more itchy than anything else. Though beauty still stayed. Though he wondered why the heck she had to stand close to his tapes from theatre she always avoided. Probably a warning or something.

'What do you want from me, eh?' he asked, drumming his fingers off the table. They gave a null, deafened sound 'I agreed to your proposition as it's okay. I want to be left alone and it sounds just as good. So send me off wherever it is, I'll be damn happy.' She'd better not touch those tapes or he'd be mad.

'I want you to tell me what's going on so I can try to fix it!' She turned around and walked back at him, staring down at his slumped figured, but that felt wrong somehow. She moved down so she was kneeling in the floor in front of him, staring up.

'Look, I'm not good with these things, none of us ever were, but you are the only family I have left. You and Gaara, and I want you both to be okay. So please, just…' She reached up with a hand, meaning to brush some of the smeared purple paint off his cheek, then let her hand drop in a helpless gesture, her expression going from angry to saddened. '…please, don't push me away. I want to help you.'

'You want to help me, yeah, all right.' he said, then closed his eyes, turning his face so he was facing the possible sky up above the tons of steel. It felt somewhat annoying that he had to see her in such uncomfortable position just near his knees. What would Nara boy say at this? Probably nothing nice. 'I'm not pushing anyone away, I don't understand what you're all about. Just go have fun in your happy world, it seems you're starting on getting strange ideas here.'

Oh, how emotional, how romantic. It almost felt too sad for him to hear something like that. He winced at the tone, but slowly stopped the facing off and looked at her with bleary eyes.

'What now?'

Temari was about to start crying again, internally hating the damned mood swings and the stupid hormones, but not able to do anything about it. She felt so helpless, and there wasn't anything to punch or kill, which would be things she would be able to do, things that were easily solvable for her. All she knew was that her brother was miserable and she didn't know what to do fix it.

'We always helped each other before. Why won't you let me do that now?'

He looked at her, not changing his pose, though the thin line of worry could be visible between his brows. It seemed she was about to cry, which was no good when it came to her condition. He sighed internally and smiled a little, trying to look reassuring.

'My lovely big sis.' he started, adding the laughable tone to his voice 'I don't need anyone's help. I'm not in bad shape or anything, I'm just a little tired. Now please, go to your room and lie down, it seems that your state is draining you out.'

No, really, what kind of help she could provide? He didn't need much but he'd be damned if he disturbed her now. Besides, she had her own world, she couldn't just sit with him here like that and worry about his problems.

'I just need to sleep it off and so do you.'

'You've been sleeping it off for months now!' she exploded, now clutching at her distended stomach as if she wanted to protect the baby from the harshness of her words. Which probably was a good idea, considering how sensitive to loud noise the growing watermelon was getting. 'You've done nothing for yourself, and all I see you do is just slump away and see the day pass by and never do anything for yourself or anyone- what the hell is wrong with you? Is it something I did? Why are you acting like this?'

'Wha-? Oh, no, wait, no- Shikamaru will kill, me... damn.' He looked at her, his expression from startled changing into sour and full of grief. Great. If she came out like that, he'd be dead. Bah, he was dead already, her tears were a sabotage to everyone who dared to make her cry and anger the Nara up, He really didn't want to get her to state like that. Not when they all finally could laugh a little.

'It's not anyone's fault!' he hissed, then got up from chair and kneeled down in front of her and clutching her shoulders 'Damn this condition, this is not important you stupid woman. You have to calm down. You did nothing wrong and stop asking those questions, you're making it worse for yourself only. I have nothing to tell to anyone and I can't give you what you're asking me, so... stop crying. I can't help being hopeless like that.' And even now he could do little than less, because the right words were just passing him by and he didn't know what to say. Women were so difficult to understand sometimes.

'It's gotta be someone's fault, you didn't get like this ever before!' she cried, now doing it openly. It a bizarre way it felt nice to not have to hold all this helplessness and anger inside like she usually did, and like hormones made very impossibly to do, but she definitely didn't want to make an habit out of losing her cool like that. 'Can't you at least trust on us once before being hopeless?'

'What...' Brunet glued his jaws once more, looking at her with something akin to pure question marks in his eyes 'What the heck are you talking about? Temari, you're not thinking straight. Calm down.' With those words he threw out any kind of hesitation he might have felt and just hugged her to his chest as there was no other man in the room to do that. Hopefully, everyone will understand that he, as a brother, had no ill manners by doing that. 'Trust has nothing to do with anything.'

Well, he wasn't like that before. But people changed. And he was human. She leaned against him, one hand reaching to clutch a sleeve as the other remained on top of her stomach.

'You say we can't help you, but you never told us how!' He was probably right and she was very likely throwing things out of proportion and overreacting horribly, but she couldn't help feeling like if she had failed at whatever she was supposed to do as an older sister and as a person. She had gotten Gaara, Gaara to turn to her for help but now her other brother, who should at least know what she was capable of, apparently saw something untrustworthy on her. 'How do you know we can't help you, you didn't even let me try!'

'Temari... that's just not that easy. Please, you can't repair everything.' Man, was she stubborn. Yes, he could be proud of her at this side, she was surely their father's child. But really, if she wanted to help him, she couldn't just give it to him. He wouldn't want it that way as it would be fake and worthless. If you didn't gain it, you didn't have it. Life was like that and nobody asked for other ways. He hoped he could at least not make her worry him in addition though. If she kept on crying like that it really could affect her pregnancy. 'I will be all right, somehow. But if you will keep on that face, your baby won't. Please. You can't be bothered by such a downside man like me.'

'Of course I worry about you, idiot, I'm your sister!' Really, was that so hard to grasp? It wasn't about any of them being older or younger, it was about family. And considering how bad theirs had turned it made sense to want to keep the good ones close and safe and happy. 'I don't want you to be like this...'

'I tell you, I will be all right.' he dared to stroke her hair, still made into those funny, girlish pigtails as he let her lay on him and rest. It's really been some time since she did that. Big girls don't need anyone to hug them after all. Unless they were princes charming. 'Don't worry about me, this won't help you or me. I ask you for this as your brother.'

After a few moments like this Temari pushed him away, rubbing at her eyes with a fist and sniffing, as if she could make them both forget what had just happened.

'Then fix yourself, because I won't stop worrying.' She ordered 'And then it will affect your nice and Shikamaru will eat your heart straight out of ribcage or something even more disturbing.'

Kankuro chuckled a little. Right. Of course he will.

'Sure, sure, I wouldn't dare to affect my little niece like that. And how could I mess with a king and his queen, oh, my.' He bowed in a mock of a real bow and smiled at her. He couldn't help, but find her proud behavior girly and cute at all odds it made. 'Don't worry, princess, my heart is my treasure so I shall protect it.' As much as it was possible. At least he hoped he wouldn't have to. It didn't seem very valuable on second thought. The older girl just stared at him with that kind of stare older sisters seemed to have perfected solely for the sake of making younger brothers aware of how stupid they were being. He sighed, slowly removing the smile from his face. It seemed that even his ability to make his sister smile a little has vanished into nothing along with the youth and all these things.

'I will be taking a walk around the kitchen if you need me.' he said and got up from the floor. 'As I said... transfer me, if you feel like it might do any good, I'm not against it.'

'Wait.'

He turned around, looking at her, not really sure about what she might've needed from him.

'Yes?'

The blonde lifted both arms, an angry flush taking on her features.

'I… can't get up on my own anymore.'

He looked at her with astonished, stunned for a moment. Then slowly, but gradually a faint snicker could be heard, until it changed into a loud laughter. But even like that, he got closer to her, and instead of helping her, he scooped her up like the most real prince charming in the entire universe, which meant bridal style. But his words were much less than charming.

'Man, someone got fat here.' he taunted as he carried her 'I will better carry you like that to your room or you might trip and end up sitting in some dark corner for the rest of the day. And man, would that be, how to say it... oh, I know! Troublesome.'

'You have no right to tell me that, I'm pregnant, what is your excuse!' she grabbed fistfuls of his hair and pulled at it, not really as hard as she could do it, but not gently either. How did a Satanist nun wannabe dare to call her fat? 'I'd like to see you try to get up with a three pound melon strapped to your stomach! A moving melon! That kicks your kidneys and sit son your bladder!'

'Ow, ow, owie! Let go or I really might leave you alone sitting in the dark corner with that melon of yours!' Not that he'd really dare to, consequences would be crucial to him. Especially if her overprotective husband of hers would get to know about this. But he could taunt, couldn't he? 'Dear sister, I dare to remind you that men don't get pregnant.' He stopped for a moment, then grimaced. '...at least normal men don't. So I can't really know how it is like when a moving ufo kicks you in the stomach and so on. But my excuse is that I'm a brother of pregnant and have full rights to laugh.'

And to add to that, he chuckled a bit, even if his roots of hair still hurt him a little.

'I wish ovaries onto you! Ovaries and a womb and a date rape and nine months of hell!' Well, it hadn't been that bad. She'd had very little morning sickness and if one ignored hormones going crazy and a sudden obsession with the consumptions of strawberries and not being able to get up on your own for three months now and not having sex because she was too round and apparently it could induce pregnancy, it hadn't been that bad. She stroked her stomach like one would do a good pet. Good Bambi, yes. Mommy was very happy with her little doe.

'Thank you, then I could impregnate myself.' The brunet didn't really mind those outbursts as he was taught that pregnant women were rather violent and tended to have big problems on small matters. Though the jokes on pregnancy with Gaara around seemed to be a little distasteful, he could sacrifice himself and spit one or two. If that made Temari happy, then why not. 'And now as you wished me a mini-me, can you walk to the room on your own now? I think my backbone is starting to betray me.'

'No one asked you to carry me!' But being pampered around wasn't that bad… once or twice. It was nice getting it from younger siblings instead of overbearing husbands, though, and speaking of husbands… 'Yeah, I can go on my own, put me down.'

Once back on her feet, she turned to stare at the taller male, again noticing the fact he was a good had taller, not to mention broader than her, and wondered when the hell had that happened.

'…I`m no good at this.' Reaching up, she patted the top of his head lightly 'You are a good kid.' she said, in her most maternal tone. 'Whatever's dragging you down, you can fix it in your own. But if you can't, I'm still your sister, and I want to help you. Okay?'

Kankuro had only smiled in response. His sister was indeed, sweet as pie, only covered in bitter crumbs for camouflage.

'Of course.' He muttered and turned back to his room. The remaining night, he spent on listening to Moonlight's Sonata. He felt at peace.


End file.
